Monthly Archives: June 2019

Northern Kin

I may be slow to mention it, but last weekend’s Northern Kin festival was surprisingly good. Very well organised, a great campsite with excellent facilities, and a nice atmosphere.

It was also a truly family friendly festival.

Garden

It may have taken a couple of years to get around to setting up properly, but we now have a camera on the back wall of the house.

It wasn’t a priority, since there’s no real access to the garden, but the blank display was beginning to irritate me.

Working for the Yankee dollar

The Skids. I loved them in the late 70s, but never saw them live. So, they’re back together again and I saw them, in the company of gentlemen, this evening.

And they were stupidly good.

The front man, Richard Jobson, is older than me, but he moves like a twenty year-old. I’m not jealous.

Music from Anfield

This is probably my best ever purchase. Made in the UK in 1967 and still works as intended. Which isn’t exactly great.

Interestingly, The original owner’s name and address is still in the manual. Courtesy of Google, this was where they lived.

And this is where they bought the record player (although the music shop is long gone).

Flamin’ Groovies

Before a few months ago, I’d never heard of the Flamin’ Groovies, even though they’ve been around since I was four years old before I was born.

They’ve often been described as the best band you’ve never heard of. I saw them last night for the first, and probably last, time, but had been listening to their stuff in the weeks leading up to the gig. They’re definitely worth checking out.

They were actually minus their front man, due to his being hospitalised following a head injury, so I didn’t see them at their best. However, opening with Shake Some Action, they set the scene for a great night. And it was.

Nabaztag

I have a couple of redundant Nabaztag-tags, the second version of An early Internet of Things device, from the mid-2000s.

They look something like this.

The manufacturer went bust several years ago, resulting in the internet-reliant rabbits’ silence. There were a few attempts to resurrect the devices across the world; there’s an existing one which uses a Raspberry Pi as a replacement internet server. It works pretty well and I used it for a year or so. Until the Raspberry Pi I was using at the time exploded (a faulty power supply, which also killed the TV).

I’ve intended trying this again, but haven’t had the time to set it up (it’s a bit of a faff).

However, there’s a new crowdfunding project which removes the need for a separate Raspberry Pi. Instead, the original motherboard is replaced, with the addition of a Raspberry Pi Zero. Both new boards are contained within the body of the rabbit.

The ‘rabbit’ on the right, below, has the new board.

I know that technology has advanced a lot in the last dozen years, but they’re still cool, albeit outdated, devices. So, I couldn’t resist.