It’s amazing how a quick change of scenery can recharge your batteries. La Mujer and I went to a housewarming party for friends of ours in the village of Westerham this weekend. Westerham is a really nice area and the party was a lot of fun. Our hosts went all out and had the party catered by a local Indian restaurant so we spent the evening in the garden socializing over curries, samosas and Cobra beer. Fortunately they also had erected some shelters so the sporadic rain didn’t ruin the event.

The party went quite late of course and eventually moved inside. It was there that I got to first experience the musical stylings of Chas and Dave, until someone took pity and changed the playlist. I learned that ‘rabbit’ is cockney slang for talk and spent all of Sunday with ‘rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit’ going through my head.

We ended up spending the night and were treated to a full English breakfast in the morning where I got my first taste of Bovril on toast. It’s okay, but I probably won’t repeat it. After that we walked through the village and into the countryside. It was a beautiful stroll, but I definitely wished I had brought boots.

For an American there is something fascinating about having a party in a house that is as old as my country. Other houses that we walked by were much older still and were interesting to look at as their isn’t a right angle left among them. I particularly liked the fact that our friends, and their neighbours as well, don’t have real addresses. I was curious why their house had a name and discovered that the name was their actual address.

It was a great experience to escape London and do a bit of unwinding. It’s pleasant to walk down quiet avenues where houses are cottages and all named rather than numbered. The countryside really is as beautiful as people insist, even in the sodden and wet weather we have been having. I particularly like this line from the wikipedia entry for Westerham.

For no altogether clear reason, Westerham has a range of restaurants and cafes out of all proportion to its size.

I don’t know if the village life is for us, but it’s nice to have friends there to visit.

Grr… I’m starting to get annoying amounts of spam. It’s really not a great big deal, since I just mark them as spam and they are gone within a few hours, but as I said… it’s annoying. I’m not about to get rid of DoFollow, because I really like it both in idea and practice, but I’m also sure that it’s leading some spam merchants my way.

Today I deleted a couple rubbish comments from somebody trying to sell Viagra and Property in “Paradise”. Now I don’t even like the old Sex on the Beach drink, and won’t darken the doorway of any bar advertising that swill, so I certainly don’t want it on my blog. Again, just a bit annoying.

Spammers are starting to remind me of viruses, not the computer kind, just the old fashioned phlegmy type. There is the truly annoying, yet harmless, ones like the erection ones that are the run of the mill cold. You get them, they are inconvenient, but easy to deal with and short lasting. Then there are the new breed-the viruses that evolve. They are Akismet resistant. They understand the filters, and more importantly, they can sneak past your natural defenses. Different names, different links, different IP addresses-same rubbish.

I read a comment that seems like a genuine reflection on my post with a query regarding linking to social networking sites. At first I see this and think it’s a normal post. Hours later I find three posts that taken individually seem legitimate, but are almost identical to the original. That’s when I realize I’ve been had and am now on the lookout for that strain. I have no doubt in a few weeks time, I will encounter a new breed.

Anyone have any good suggestions? I’m not sure if it’s a bot issue, so I’m loathe to introduce the annoying math or image questions to allow a post. I would prefer not to have to introduce anything to force legitimate posters to go through. It’s not a huge issue, it’s just this is Friday evening for me, and this is my niggling complaint. I don’t want people ripping off some poor bastard who can’t get it up on my site.

Since I have their IP addresses and links, ideally I would like somebody to tell me how to send the blogging equivalent of the ebola virus to them. Yes, I’m a bit petty as well as vindictive.

I’ll get it out of the way first: I think I’m beating La Mujer on the Winehouse cancellations predictions. She’s canceled a couple of shows due to “sheer exhaustion”, or a drugs overdose depending on which source you choose to listen to.

I don’t particularly care for celebrity gossip, so now on to the meat of the post. I’ve been following this new site, NowPublic, and I’m intrigued. I think there are some flaws but the idea and the potential there is impressive.

This site is based on the idea of collecting news from people at the scene rather than waiting for professional journalists to arrive. Similar to the explosion of the blogosphere, I see this as something that could really impact how people get their news. It has been dubbed everything from citizen journalism to crowdsourcing and networked journalism. Frankly, all those terms are silly, but the idea is great.

The impetus of the site seems to have been born in the 7/7 attacks on the London tube. News of the attacks spread instantly, but it took a while for official outlets to collect and disseminate information. Millions of people flipped through the channels and logged on to various internet sites looking for more information as it was breaking. Much of that information was provided by eyewitnesses; commuters with camera phones became the sources of most of the early news.

A site that attempts to bring together people to post consolidate breaking stories is a great idea, and a challenge to execute. The problem will be what to do with all of these sources and stories. The internet is not lacking in information, the difficulty is in organizing it. NowPublic will need to take an active role in structuring and focusing this content lest it end up like a set of encyclopedias missing an index and alphabetical order. Or worse, become like YouTube full of potential but bogged down by mindless drivel in the commentary.

The creators of NowPublic need to remember that while user created content has near unlimited potential, no real news source can survive without editorial control.

I assume that the majority of Londoners had to have spent an enjoyable weekend, and I’m no exception. It was fantastic to have the sun out, and for it to make its grand entrance on a weekend was very welcome.

La Mujer’s cousin is up from Madrid so we took him out to see some of the sights of London over the weekend. To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen some of the places in nice weather and it was a pleasant change. Camden Town, while still filled with teenagers sporting bad haircuts, Che Guevarra t-shirts and and an unfortunate predilection for techno music, seems almost quaint in the sunshine. The murky waters of the Thames from the Millenium Bridge reminds me more of a latte than something I’d rather not think about.

I didn’t accompany the two of them to Soho, where apparently they ran into a transsexual dressed akin to Amy Winehouse complete with nasty beehive, exaggerated makeup and far too revealing shorts. “But he looked like a total junkie,” La Mujer emphasised. So he looked a lot like Amy Winehouse then.

That reminds me: We saw an advert in the Guardian listing a lot of upcoming Winehouse shows throughout the UK. We’re attempting to predict how many shows will be cancelled and see which one of us is closer to the mark. Of course I’m still working out a spread system as I believe the shows on consecutive nights are more likely to be called off due to an ‘exhausted’ Winehouse. Of course a gap between shows is a perfect opportunity for a bender leading to a missed performance. Maybe I should give Ladbroke’s a ring.

There are some events coming up this week that I’m looking forward to. The Dwarves are playing tonight, but it’s £13 per ticket and a school night, so I don’t think we’ll take advantage of that. We do have tickets on Sunday to see Time Again, and I’m happy about that. I’ve seen them in the States and like their music. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a punk show so it will be a lot of fun.

The Great British Beer Festival starts on Tuesday and goes through Sunday, and as tempting as the prospect of sampling beers for five days is, I’ll probably limit it to Friday evening.

It will be a good week, and while the forecast indicates the glorious weather of this weekend might prove fleeting, I’ll still play the optimist.

Just a quick post here to keep things up to date. The wireless keyboard that I’m on also seems to be needing a battery replacement so typing is becoming an increasingly frustrating experience.

Had an all staff meeting at work this morning which gave me a bit more insight into the other work that is going on within the company. They also provided bacon sandwiches and champagne for everyone. A bacon sandwich is apparently a common British breakfast item and is exactly what it sounds like: Bacon on white bread. I passed as I’m not a huge bacon fan, aside from Spanish ham, and find the British breakfasts to be a bit foreign to my tastes.

The company does have a well stocked kitchen with plenty of food to make breakfast in particular. There are fairly standard cereals that I will take advantage of, and even a jar or two of peanut butter which is not something I see too often here. There is one particular cupboard, and while I would stop short of calling it a cabinet of horrors, it does make for a sideshow of British culinary tastes.

Marmite is extremely popular in the office, and indeed it seems to be popular in the whole of the town. Marmite and cheese sandwiches seem to be on offer and purchased everywhere. The squeezable variety seems to be the clear favourite at work as it allows a quick squiggle across your toast and then your off.

Something new that I’ve stumbled across in the kitchen is Bovril., a beef extract for making a hot cuppa. Because clearly, nothing perks you up in the morning like a cow in your cup.

While I try to be adventurous and broaden my horizons, that is after all, an advantage of living abroad, I think I might give this a pass. I’m not sure if indulging in this would make me feel peculiarly British or just leave me feeling peculiar. If I really feel like yeast and beef, instead of spreading the former on toast and quaffing a mug of the latter, I’ll go the old boring American route and have my yeast in beer and beef on the plate.