I am the ghost of groovymother.com. Woooooo!

This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.

It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.

Filed under 'zonetag'

March 5, 2008

Fire Eagle

Fire Eagle has launched — a broker for your physical location, which other applications can use to improve user experiences. It’s really just APIs and geekery at the moment, but the applications that use and enable it will start appearing pretty quickly — I’ve already got a couple of ideas.

June 29, 2007

I CAN HAS IPHONE!

I CAN HAS IPHONE!

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“Smart” Water

“Smart” Water

Apple sent out a couple of employees with bottles of water to keep the line cool.

June 24, 2007

geeksinboston.com planning

geeksinboston.com planning

Today at DevHouseBoston2, Shimon Rura, Jeff Potter and myself started work on creating a local geek-event aggregator/notifier webapp.

With a design sensibility somewhere between Craigslist and Upcoming, it should be live in the next couple of weeks.

June 14, 2007

Underwater Hippo

Underwater Hippo

These Animals BITE!

These Animals BITE!

Pink Flamingo

Pink Flamingo

Underwater Polar Bear

Underwater Polar Bear

Polar Splash

Polar Splash

Lazy Polar Bear

Lazy Polar Bear

Peacock Going Shopping

Peacock Going Shopping

Clearly it considers its current duds a tad dull and lacking in pizazz.

Malayian Tapir

Malayian Tapir

Joy and I "adopted" a Tapir at the zoo last year.

Elephant

Elephant

Eating Giraffe

Eating Giraffe

8’ When Crouching

8’ When Crouching

Polar Bear on the Ridge

Polar Bear on the Ridge

June 13, 2007

Joy enjoying a cola at Carl’s Jr.

Joy enjoying a cola at Carl’s Jr.

As part of our tour of California, we've been attempting to sample the fast food at the chains that are only found on the west-coast.

The Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr, the Double-Double Animal Style at In-N-Out and a Jumpin' Jack at Jack in the Box have all been devoured. Plus shakes and/or malts at each -- The Carl's Jr. Caramel Malt is my favourite so far.

The weight-loss starts when we get back home.

Me and Penn

Me and Penn

After the show at the Rio.

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Me and Teller

Me and Teller

After the show at the Rio.

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June 12, 2007

“Carrot Top Fantasy”

“Carrot Top Fantasy”

Words that should never be placed together.

Lion Hat

Lion Hat

Super-classy!

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A Lion

A Lion

Attacking a bone in much the same way our basset hounds do.

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June 10, 2007

Us at General Sherman

Us at General Sherman

The largest tree in the world (note: no longer considered the largest living thing in the world -- a field of fungus is)

Me between two big-ass trees

Me between two big-ass trees

The giant forest at Sequoia National Park

Joy in front of a Sequoia

Joy in front of a Sequoia

The giant forest at Sequoia National Park

In the Crystal Caves

In the Crystal Caves

June 8, 2007

Inside a kaleidoscope

Inside a kaleidoscope

At the Exploratorium

On Crissy Field beach

On Crissy Field beach

With a bridge in the background

With the dogs on Crissy Field beach

With the dogs on Crissy Field beach

Joy and I sat on the beach for a while, watching some local dogs frolic in the waves.

Happy Rod

Happy Rod

In front of Ghirardelli Square. They have chocolate there, you know.

Downhill

Downhill

Taken hanging onto the back of a trolley.

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“LOUD ALARM WILL SOUND - Smile for the Camera”

“LOUD ALARM WILL SOUND - Smile for the Camera”

24th St and Mission BART station.

June 7, 2007

Curt’s Post-Game Interview

Curt’s Post-Game Interview

One out shy of a no-hitter, Curt Schilling talks to Tina Cervasio of NESN.

Curt Pitches

Curt Pitches

This was out number 24 en route to what looked like a no-hitter.

LOUDER! NOISE!

LOUDER! NOISE!

Apparently, in Oakland the crowd need to be *told* to cheer their team.

The view on NESN

The view on NESN

Peering through a TV camera.

The view from our seats

The view from our seats

Here's what it looked like from Row 35 in Section 110 of the McAfee Coliseum. The tickets were considerably cheaper (and easier to come-by) than their Fenway equivalents.

What passes for a bullpen in Oakland

What passes for a bullpen in Oakland

Schilling warming up.

McAfee Coliseum

McAfee Coliseum

June 6, 2007

Jelly Belly

Jelly Belly

At the Jelly Belly factory.

1 Infinite Loop

1 Infinite Loop

When we arrived, there was someone posing next to the sign and having his photo taken. I'm not that much of a fanboy, so I just took a shot out the car window as I drove by.

(I did end up spending $120 in the Apple Company Store, though!)

“Door to Nowhere”

“Door to Nowhere”

One of Sarah Winchester's more interesting architectural features -- the door from the second floor to the garden.

Hard Hat

Hard Hat

Joy wearing her hard-hat, before we went a-adventuring on the Winchester Mystery House behind-the-scenes tour.

June 5, 2007

Mini Golf

Mini Golf

Looking through the list of "Things To Do In San Jose" that was in our hotel, Joy immediately went "Oooh!" when she saw a mini-golf course.

June 3, 2007

Getty Center Garden

Getty Center Garden

Me in the Getty Center Garden

Me in the Getty Center Garden

Flowers in the Getty Center Garden

Flowers in the Getty Center Garden

I’m covered in beeeees!

I’m covered in beeeees!

Joy in the Getty Center Garden

Joy in the Getty Center Garden

Bacon’s star

Bacon’s star

Originally Lloyd's, not Kevin's.

The Line at Pink’s

The Line at Pink’s

We went to get hot dogs at Pink's, having heard good things about them, but a 45 minute wait in the sun didn't appeal. Maybe another time.

June 2, 2007

Second Scientology Flyer

Second Scientology Flyer

The second flyer I received from Scientologists today. Rather disingenuously, this one doesn't feature the word "scientology" anywhere on it. (It's credited to the "Citizens Commission on Human Rights® International")

It's only because of that whole BBC Panorama farrago from a few weeks that I know that the "An Industry Of Death" thing is anything to do with them.

Scarface Flip-Flops, sir?

Scarface Flip-Flops, sir?

Most bizarre thing spotted in a Hollywood gift-shop so far.

Scientology Flyer

Scientology Flyer

Flyer from the first time (of three) I was approached by Scientologists on Hollywood Boulevard today. At least this one mentions Scientology.

June 1, 2007

Back Seat Basset

Back Seat Basset

When Bacon's in the back of the car, and I'm stopped in traffic, he loves sticking his head out the window and getting adoration from the other drivers.

…for some value of left

…for some value of left

Road testing my new GPS in Cambridge gave this rather bizarre instruction (it's telling me to take a "left on Magazine St", but the illustration is actually taking a right onto Massachusetts Ave).

Proof that the roads of New England are too much for even the smartest of technology to deal with.

May 31, 2007

View from the Stage, Ignite Boston!

View from the Stage, Ignite Boston!

The blinding light of the LCD projector, above a pretty full (and frustratingly loud-at-the-back) room.

May 3, 2007

At last! The secret formula! It is mine!

At last!  The secret formula!  It is mine!

Spotted on a door at Fenway: The secret instructions for making a footlong hotdog. WIth this recipe, I shall RULE THE WORLD!

Spot the life-long Sox fan

Spot the life-long Sox fan

Joy and my parents at Fenway Park.

You'll note that my dad (who's never been to a baseball game before) and my mum (who's been once) are both wearing Red Sox jackets. I'd mentioned to them the night before that it can get kind of chilly in the evening, so they should maybe bring a jacket. So when they happened upon Red Sox jackets at Marshall's earlier in the day, they snapped them up.

Classy!

April 21, 2007

April 11, 2007

Mr Dice, Meet Mr K. (again)

Mr Dice, Meet Mr K. (again)

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 8:05 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 8:05 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts

Yet more Japanese

Yet more Japanese

WEEI and ESPN Radio were both handing out Japanese signs for the crowd to hold up. No idea what they say, though. (Outside the park after the game, the Sully's Tees folks were selling shirts that said "YANKEES SUCK" in Japanese. Some things are universal)

Mr Dice, Meet Mr K.

Mr Dice, Meet Mr K.

These guys were a couple of rows back from us. Joy & I are totally going to rip off their idea this Hallowe'en.

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 6:44 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 6:44 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts

ZoneTag: Photosphere / About. Owner only: Fix Location / Add Tags / Settings

Japanese Baseball Cheers

Japanese Baseball Cheers

Handed out outside the park.

Matsuzaka 18

Matsuzaka 18

First person I saw with a MATSUZAKA 18 shirt on. Saw a fair few people who'd recycled their "DAMON 18" shirts from before he went evil.

Popeye’s Chicken Welcomes Japanese-Speaking Red Sox Fans

Popeye’s Chicken Welcomes Japanese-Speaking Red Sox Fans

First piece of Japanese writing I saw near Fenway, outside the Popeye's Chicken.

April 4, 2007

Hairy Chest in the Sox Crowd

Hairy Chest in the Sox Crowd

This is why watching the Sox in HD is so important. Sure, the game's a bit clearer, but really, it's all about those moments when Orsillo & Remy lose their everloving minds and amuse themselves.

Here, they take a fan to task who had removed his shirt (along with his friends) to spell "BOSTON" across their chests. They spent a good two minutes discussing how he should trim his chest hair, pondering whether it joined around the back, doodling with the telestrator, and commenting how he reminded them of Austin Powers. The cameras even cut away from Youk's home run to show this guy putting his shirt back on.

Hooray for Don and the Remdawg.

March 27, 2007

Brave Basset

Brave Basset

Clyde got attacked by another dog at the dog park this evening, and we had to take him to the vet to get the cuts looked at. A few staples later and he should be right as rain.

Thankfully, he's taking it all in his stride -- apart from strongly refusing to be put into one of those headcone things. No amount of snausages would convince him to wear it!

March 1, 2007

This parking meter is NOT A BOMB

This parking meter is NOT A BOMB

explanation

February 7, 2007

Yum!

Yum!

Joy savours the delight that is the "Berry Smoothie" barium stomach liner, prior to her CT scan today.

January 30, 2007

WebInno10 Tuesday 7:12 pm 1/30/07 Cambridge, Massachusetts

WebInno10 Tuesday 7:12 pm 1/30/07 Cambridge, Massachusetts

The tenth Web Innovators Group meetup. By my guesstimate, there were well over 200 people there this evening, a far cry from the 60 or so crammed into the back room at Tommy Doyle's the first time I went.

January 26, 2007

Wii News Channel

Wii News Channel

It just seems right that the first story I pulled up on the new Wii "News Channel" was about the European PS3 launch.

January 11, 2007

Doozer and a Doozer

Doozer and a Doozer

On the left, a doozer. On the right, my new Nabaztag/tag, who I've named "Doozer".

January 4, 2007

Trashbag Balancing Thursday 7:25 am 1/4/07 Somerville, Massachusetts

Trashbag Balancing Thursday 7:25 am 1/4/07 Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville changed their Trash pickup policy on the 1st January. Now trash will only be accepted if it's in, or on, a trashcan; you can't just leave the bags on ground level. I forsee my future of creative stacking. (Or, perhaps, going out and buying a second bin.)

January 1, 2007

Theo Cheever: Five-Year-Old Rawk God

Theo Cheever: Five-Year-Old Rawk God

Theo, middle child of the multi-talented Cheever brood, shows off his prowess on "the skins".

December 31, 2006

“Project threequarters” is live

“Project threequarters” is live

Just launched my rebuilt and redesigned blog. It's still a bit on the brittle side, but I'm really happy with it as a first step.

December 25, 2006

Packaged Pooped Pooch

Packaged Pooped Pooch

Bacon, too tired to swat off the ribbon we attached to him.

Patrolling

Patrolling

Clyde guards the brie and meatballs to ensure no unsavoury fate befalls them.

Joy & Bacon

Joy & Bacon

Bacon doing his best Rudolph impression by hiding behind a carnation.

December 23, 2006

It’s Me! On TV! Courtesy of Wii! Eeeeee!

It’s Me! On TV! Courtesy of Wii!   Eeeeee!

Not terribly legible (wonder if component cables will make a difference), but here's my blog on the telly, courtesy of the freshly-launched "Internet Channel" on my Wii.

Rather surprisingly, the browser supports Flash video, so the combination of Wii and YouTube finally gives me a way to, if you can imagine such a thing, enjoy watching video on my television.

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December 16, 2006

Basset Belly Balancing

Basset Belly Balancing

Bacon makes himself comfortable, perched atop my ample gut.

December 9, 2006

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:44 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dev House Boston Saturday 12:44 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mac owners attract each other, it seems.

December 5, 2006

A magnetic ode to our dogs

A magnetic ode to our dogs

Joy got a "Dog Lovers" Magnetic Poetry set for her birthday. This is her first work on our fridge.

December 1, 2006

Gawd Bless the Qwiin

Gawd Bless the Qwiin

My Wii, looking all patriotic after the application of a decal from DecalGirl.com.

November 22, 2006

Come, Children! Drink from Santa’s Cock!

Come, Children!  Drink from Santa’s Cock!

Inappropriate beverage dispensers, spotted in Target.

DigiCam Geotagging with ZoneTag

This is a cool new feature in ZoneTag: Gather up your location information in your cellphone (either with a Bluetooth GPS, or just by cell-tower/location matching), then upload photos taken with your regular camera to Flickr and have ZoneTag geotag them automagically.

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November 21, 2006

Sunset from The Mountain

Sunset from The Mountain

One of the advantages of working at a location with the street address of "The Mountain"? Getting to see some gorgeous sunsets from the parking lot.

November 20, 2006

It’s the ID badge hanging from the sporran that makes it traditional Scottish dress

It’s the ID badge hanging from the sporran that makes it traditional Scottish dress

I wore my kilt into work today, for reasons that aren't terribly interesting (let's just say I agreed to it on Saturday night after I'd imbibed some Harpoon Barleywine.)

If anyone asked, I told them it was "Sean Connery Day".

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November 19, 2006

Wii in Action

Wii in Action

Home, unpacked, and rawkin'! Four hours in the cold? Worth it!

We have Wii!

We have Wii!

The Wii bundle (the console plus Excite Truck and Zelda, neither of which I really wanted, but which I should be able to sell on eBay no problem), plus Super Monkey Ball and Rayman: Raving Rabbids. In my car boot. Mine!

I'm a happy camper.

Updated to add: Zelda and Excite Truck both sold on half.com in about 10 minutes, recouping my $90. Ace!

Got my ticket.

Got my ticket.

Twelfth in line. My Costco had 48 to hand out, and everyone in line at 9am got one. In fact, the manager had to stand around outside with a spare ticket until a family showed up at 9.31am and claimed the final system!

My hero

My hero

This kind gentleman showed up with a Box of Joe and donuts to share amongst the line.

Costco Wii line

Costco Wii line

The line for Wii, outside Costco in Everett MA at about 7.30am.

Originally, I was planning on going to Target, but when I got there about 6.30, they'd already handed out tickets to the line for all the systems they had. (Some students were offering to sell their places in line. I didn't bother asking for how much)

The official word from Costco earlier in the week had been that they weren't stocking Wii's in their retail stores, to avoid lines. This turned out to be untrue, as when I wandered round the corner, there were 11 people waiting, including an off-duty Costco employee who said they had 48 in stock!

November 5, 2006

Smokey Robinson’s ‘The Soul Is In the Bowl’ Red Beans and Rice

Smokey Robinson’s ‘The Soul Is In the Bowl’ Red Beans and Rice

New in the freezer section at Stop & Shop. "Diana Ross & The Temptations' Salisbury Steak Dinner" not pictured.

November 2, 2006

Working from Home

Working from Home

Ah, the pleasures of working from home. (See notes on picture.) I could get quite used to this.

October 24, 2006

God Says: Please Do Not Go to Hell

God Says:  Please Do Not Go to Hell

Tucked under my windscreen wiper on Landsdowne St. As I approached my car, I thought I'd got a parking ticket. Instead, I just got redemption. Phew!

Vote Dig

Vote Dig

The badges being handed out at the Weekly Dig "Dig This" awards party.

With Love, From Carnegie Deli

With Love, From Carnegie Deli

My birthday present from my wee sister? 2.5lbs of cheesecake, overnighted from the Carnegie Deli in New York.

October 23, 2006

Joy’s Moo Cards

Joy’s Moo Cards

I treated Joy to a box of Moo Cards for herself -- each illustrated with a photo of the dogs. Here are two, resting in some dog photo holders I picked up for her at Philadelphia Airport.

The word ‘unblowupable’ is thrown around a lot these days.

The word ‘unblowupable’ is thrown around a lot these days.

This is the pressure-gauge on the outside of our central heating furnace that gave up the ghost over the weekend. You might note that the clear protective plastic shield on it has turned brown, melted and buckled.

This is because the furnace apparently decided that merely heating water into steam and pushing it around our radiators was, shall we say, passé, and instead dived head-first into a mission of heating itself up to a frighteningly hot temperature and dripping boiling water onto the basement floor.

Remind me again why home-ownership is a good idea?

October 19, 2006

My drive home from work -- Geotagged on Flickr

With little regard for public safety, I snapped a bunch of shots with my cellphone on my way home from work, which are lovingly (and automagically) placed along my route via the brilliance of Zonetag and Flickr.

October 18, 2006

Dunkin Donuts, Union Square Wednesday 5:49 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

Dunkin Donuts, Union Square Wednesday 5:49 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

Used Car lot, Prospect St Wednesday 5:48 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

Used Car lot, Prospect St Wednesday 5:48 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

Corner of Prospect & Hampshire, Wednesday 5:42 pm 10/18/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Corner of Prospect & Hampshire, Wednesday 5:42 pm 10/18/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts

Fast Lane, Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts

Fast Lane, Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts

Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts

Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts

Deval Patrick Supporters. Wednesday 5:11 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts

Deval Patrick Supporters.  Wednesday 5:11 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:10 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts

ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:10 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts

October 12, 2006

Geotagging with Zonetag and Bluetooth GPS... (plasticbag.org)

Good overview from Tom Coates on how to get your cellphone geotagging and uploading photos automagically. This is the process I use, and I recommend the Nokia 6682 highly. It’s a decent-ish camera, and a great phone.

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October 10, 2006

My Flickr Moo Cards

My Flickr Moo Cards

A mixture of Boston, Bassets and a Bunch of other stuff. They look great, especially considering most of the photos were taken with crappy cameraphones!

Sadly, two of the twenty images I uploaded got printed as "Unavailable photo:" Not sure what caused that, but I'm gonna ping Moo and see what happened.

Decorated Trunks

Decorated Trunks

Someone's been decorating the tree trunks around Union Square.

October 9, 2006

‘Best’ of Boston?

‘Best’ of Boston?

This is odd. Dunkin Donuts cups currently proclaim that they were awarded a "Best of Boston" award by Boston Magazine this year. However, a search of the Best of Boston site finds no such win.

In fact, it appears that the "award" was merely a corporate agreement to use the cup on the magazine cover.

I love DD as much as the next New Englander, but since the "Best of Boston" usually _means_ something (unlike some other awards, which just rank which business did the best job getting their customers to ballot-stuff), it seems massively lame to whore the title this way.

October 6, 2006

Jon Stewart, The Wang Center, Friday 10:50 pm 10/6/06

Jon Stewart, The Wang Center, Friday 10:50 pm 10/6/06

For our third wedding anniversary, I treated meself and the missus to tickets to see Jon Stewart do standup. He was splendidly entertaining, though it seemed like he hadn't updated his standup act much over the last few years (jokes about Y2K, the Million Man March and Rodney King!)

October 3, 2006

Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:25 pm 10/3/06

Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:25 pm 10/3/06

Tim Westergren of Pandora, talking with a hundred-or-so interested students and other music geeks at MIT.

Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:10 pm 10/3/06

Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:10 pm 10/3/06

A subset of the crowd at the Pandora Town Hall.

October 1, 2006

Massive Attack, Boston Orpheum, Sunday 9:14 pm 10/1/06

Massive Attack, Boston Orpheum, Sunday 9:14 pm 10/1/06

The light show was really quite stunning, but of course, looks like ass on my cameraphone. Their use of scrolling ticker displays reminded me somewhat of the Blue Man Group!

Clyde’s Nest

Clyde’s Nest

Clyde isn't spritely enough to hop onto the bed like Bacon, so he's made himself a little nest in the corner of the bedroom.

September 25, 2006

Blue Screened

Blue Screened

Clearly the presenter from Traineo had not performed sufficient sacrifices to the god of demos before getting up at the Web Innovators Group. Within 10 seconds of starting, his laptop bluescreened.

And all the Mac fanboys in the crowd smiled to themselves.

September 20, 2006

Pyrotechnics Wednesday 10:59 pm 9/20/06

Pyrotechnics Wednesday 10:59 pm 9/20/06

The grand finale for the Stones gig, ending at 11pm precisely.

Truly rock'n'roll at its most punctual.

The Rolling Stones, Gillette Stadium. Wednesday 9:36 pm 9/20/06

The Rolling Stones, Gillette Stadium. Wednesday 9:36 pm 9/20/06

I managed to nab some free tickets to tonight's Stones gig in Foxborough. We were up in the nosebleediest of nosebleeds, but for free, we weren't complaining.

September 19, 2006

Well that’s something you don’t see everyday

Well that’s something you don’t see everyday

Open-top Double Decker Routemaster London bus driving round the streets of Cambridge, MA.

September 14, 2006

Remy & Orsillo bobbleheads

Remy & Orsillo bobbleheads

Bobbleheads of the Red Sox commentators.

September 12, 2006

The Tobin Bridge Tuesday 2:26 pm 9/12/06 Charlestown, Massachusetts

The Tobin Bridge Tuesday 2:26 pm 9/12/06 Charlestown, Massachusetts

Taken during the Bose Cruise (It's like a Booze Cruise, but with less alcohol, and greater noise reduction).

Boattuggery Tuesday 2:11 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Boattuggery Tuesday 2:11 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

A tanker navigating Boston Harbor with a few tugboats guiding it.

The Zakim Bridge Tuesday 1:57 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

The Zakim Bridge Tuesday 1:57 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

My favourite new piece of architecture in Boston.

Airyplane Tuesday 12:50 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Airyplane Tuesday 12:50 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Descending to Logan.

September 5, 2006

Exit 25MPH

Exit 25MPH

Just discovered that when I use ZoneTag with my GPS whilst driving, it not only tags the photo with "driving", but also the speed at which I was going.

Which was 65mph when I took the photo of this road sign, apparently.

‘New Hampshire Boring’

‘New Hampshire Boring’

Refreshingly honest, but it really feels like the New Hampshire tourist board isn't even trying anymore.

August 19, 2006

Joy, Asleep, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin.

Joy, Asleep, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin.

Joy hadn't had enough sleep, and her epilepsy was playing up, so for her, the walking tour of Kilmainham Gaol was more of a napping-and-leaning tour.

August 17, 2006

Snakes which are neither on a plane, nor in a movie theater

Snakes which are neither on a plane, nor in a movie theater

AMC apparently has a policy that you are not allowed to take rubber snakes into movie theaters showing Snakes on a Plane. These were the contraband snakes confiscated prior to this evening's showing.

View from the bridge *over* the Victory Bridge

View from the bridge *over* the Victory Bridge

The red carpet bridge was right below us, but we took another thirty minutes to find our way there.

The Davis Mega-Maze Thursday 1:31 pm 8/17/06 South Lancaster, Massachusetts

The Davis Mega-Maze  Thursday 1:31 pm 8/17/06 South Lancaster, Massachusetts

This afternoon, our team at work took a group outing (under the auspices of "team building exercise") to the Davis Mega-Maze, a massive maze through 10-foot-tall corn. It took us an hour to find our way out!

August 14, 2006

Scooby Snacks

Scooby Snacks

When I got home from work, there was an unexpected package on the doorstep from Petco.com.

"Crap!", thinks I. "Clearly Bacon has got himself a credit card, and entered the murky world of e-commerce."

Luckily, it turned out to be a gift from the lovely folks at Reddit, as thanks to Bacon for appearing in banner ads for them!

As a precaution, though, I've taken away Bacon's pre-authorized credit-card application forms. You can't be too careful.

August 6, 2006

FIVE!

FIVE!

One of my pet peeves is when I'm trying to find a friend's house, but can't read any of the house numbers on the street.

I just installed this number on our house this week. It's a nifty design -- It's solar-powered, so it charges its battery during the day, then when it gets dark, lights up using a couple of white LEDs.

The things I do to help out our friends. (OK, I'll be honest: Most visitors to our front door are Chinese and Pizza delivery guys).

$20 from ThinkGeek.

July 29, 2006

Arrogant Bastard Ale Saturday 9:55 pm 7/29/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

Arrogant Bastard Ale Saturday 9:55 pm 7/29/06 Somerville, Massachusetts

My chum Noel and I sample Arrogant Bastard Ale. The bottle warned us "You probably won't like this," and it was right.

July 27, 2006

Baldy!

Baldy!

Having woken up to a particularly stonking case of bedhead this morning, I inwardly-dialogued "fuck it!" and asked Joy to help me take my beardtrimmer to my head.

Lesson learned? Next time, use a longer setting on the trimmer, cause my blond hair is nearly transparent this short.

July 24, 2006

Gigantor Remote

Gigantor Remote

Ah, I love the crap they sell at Brookstone. The overpriced junk that gives the air of being vaguely useful, but is too cheap and shoddy to actually solve a problem well.

My favourite one that I saw yesterday was this $50 massive universal remote. Pretend to be a Lilliputian from the comfort of your couch!

July 22, 2006

Steee-rike!

Steee-rike!

Joy bowling at King's. For a crappy cameraphone shot, I think this turned out pretty good!

July 16, 2006

Basset Hounds! Sunday 12:41 pm 7/16/06 Bristol, Rhode Island

Basset Hounds! Sunday 12:41 pm 7/16/06 Bristol, Rhode Island

Some of the bassets relaxing in the shade at the Colonial Basset Hound Rescue Basset Bash.

Maggie May, Sunday 11:23 am 7/16/06 Bristol, Rhode Island

Maggie May, Sunday 11:23 am 7/16/06 Bristol, Rhode Island

This adorable little puppy stole everyone's hearts at the Basset Bash.

July 15, 2006

July 12, 2006

Puffy AmiYumi, Wednesday 10:10 pm 7/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Puffy AmiYumi, Wednesday 10:10 pm 7/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts

The Puffy AmiYumi Splurge! Splurge! Splurge! tour. They read their on-stage banter off of notebooks. "Thank you. You guys... are.. the.. best?" It only sounded 5% more scripted than when native English-speaking bands do it..

July 2, 2006

Hitched

Hitched

A (year-and-a-half) belated first wedding anniversary gift from our smashing chum, Cheryl: A signed Garry Trudeau print of Mike & JJ from Doonesbury.

Hopefully, our marriage will turn out happier than theirs!

June 28, 2006

Aimee Mann with the Boston Pops, Wednesday 9:40 pm 6/28/06

Aimee Mann with the Boston Pops, Wednesday 9:40 pm 6/28/06

June 25, 2006

Morningwood, Sunday 11:08 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Morningwood, Sunday 11:08 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts

The lead singer, Chantel, has a helluva lot of energy in her. Especially considering they've cancelled the next four dates in the tour because she's sprained her leg.

Morningwood Sunday 10:56 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Morningwood Sunday 10:56 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts

Chantel getting the crowd to crouch during "nth Degree". As I took this photo, she was admonishing the Axis security, and telling them to crouch too.

June 24, 2006

View from the State Street Pavillion

View from the State Street Pavillion

Managed to get a pair of "Standing Room" tickets in the "State Street Pavillion" at Fenway. Since it was a pretty grey day, not everyone had shown up, so we had seats for the whole game. Result!

June 11, 2006

Joy trains her brain

Joy trains her brain

I bought the DS Lite that I've been craving for so long this morning. Joy's been quite taken with Brain Age.

I'm hoping to get it back off her soon so that I can indulge in a little more Super Mario.

June 4, 2006

Ingredients for Web 2.0 Success

Ingredients for Web 2.0 Success

"Pierre Francois from Underscore_ Consulting" (who looked alarmingly similar to Alexis from Reddit) did a great presentation, somewhat reminiscent of Stephen Colbert's "The Word" segment. The video should be up soon.

June 3, 2006

Shimon & the Schedule Board

Shimon & the Schedule Board

This was right at the start of BarCamp, before it got completely filled for the day.

May 23, 2006

XM Inno

XM Inno

I'm playing with a loaned XM Inno radio at the moment. It's considerably shinier than my olde Roady -- Nice colour screen, the ability to save tracks you like, and a reasonably decent UI for browsing stations (better than the one on the competing Sirius player.)

And hey! If they're getting sued by the RIAA, they've got to be doing _something_ right!

May 15, 2006

No running, shouting or piddling in the shallow end.

No running, shouting or piddling in the shallow end.

Our basement, with the delightful addition of a couple of inches of floodwater. Every hardware store in the area is sold out of pumps, so we're waiting for the fire department to pop round and help us out. Oh, the joys of homeownership.

May 9, 2006

EL(?)OO

EL(?)OO

Do Stop & Shop lie? Is this really "Extra Light" enough for Shangri-La?

May 6, 2006

The Radio Knives, P.A.’s Lounge, Somerville

The Radio Knives, P.A.’s Lounge, Somerville

My Brother-(in-law)^2's band. Fine garage-rawk tunes can be found at their MySpace page.

Crated Bacon

Crated Bacon

Bacon suffered a back injury this week -- A slipped disc or a pinched nerve, reckons the vet. Poor little bugger has the be kept in his crate (except for "short leashed walks") for two weeks.

Since he's caged and being fed steroids, Keith suggested we should rename him "Veal".

April 20, 2006

April 19, 2006

A Six-Foot Latte

A Six-Foot Latte

You know, I often dream about getting this much caffeine.

View from the Monster

View from the Monster

We had Green Monster tickets for tonight's Sox game. Since our normal seats are way back in right field, this was quite a different view!

March 31, 2006

Somerville has a Dog Park

Somerville has a Dog Park

Until very recently, there was not a single place in the City of Somerville (population ~77,000) where you could let your dog off-leash. Thankfully this has now changed, with the just-opened dog run on Nunziato Field. Here's some of the cheerful dogs that were gallavanting round there when we took Bacon down this evening.

March 19, 2006

A ‘smooth, creamy coffeehouse classic’, apparently

A ‘smooth, creamy coffeehouse classic’, apparently

Or, alternatively, half-a-mug of piss-weak, nastily artifically-sweetened, CoffeeMate-crammed brownwater. The rather disappointing result of trying a HomeCafe "frothy cappuccino" pod.

I got the coffee machine for free from BzzAgent, but I still feel ripped-off. I'll stick with my Senseo, thanks.

March 17, 2006

Apple Powerbook 5300cs

Apple Powerbook 5300cs

Intel is for wussies. The 100Mhz PowerPC 603e is where it's at.

This laptop was unceremoniously dumped in the random-crap-pile outside my cube. It's ten years old, running System 7.5, has a staggering 24Mb of RAM, and a whopping 500Mb hard drive. Anyone got suggestions for what I can use it for?

March 9, 2006

Three Roombas enter, One Roomba leaves

Three Roombas enter, One Roomba leaves

Hardcore Three-way Roomba-on-Roomba Action.

March 8, 2006

Roomba Rumble

Roomba Rumble

Two remote-control Roombas battle it out at Makefest.

March 6, 2006

My main thought from day one of ETech…

My main thought from day one of ETech…

"Branded Lanyard" would be a great name for a rock band.

March 1, 2006

Another Zonetag test

Another Zonetag test

Bacon's tail: Too fast for the LED flash on the camphone.

February 27, 2006

Belle & Sebastian, Avalon, Boston

Belle & Sebastian, Avalon, Boston

ZoneTagged Mon Feb 27, 2006 19:03:29 PST

Dicking around with the new cellphone

Dicking around with the new cellphone

ZoneTagged Mon Feb 27, 2006 15:50:02 PST


About This Site

This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.

I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.