a case for time travel (part five)

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

Thanks to Shuba Shetty, who now follows me on twitter, for this fine quote attributed to Einstein. I'm really only a fan of quotations which encapsulate the whole context of the quote within itself, like this one does.

Also, she points twitters to this clock made from people in uncomfortable looking positions, a perfect allegory for the effects artificial linear time has had on humanity.

bad transport, ill wind

I plan the best way to get to my prospective employers' offices. Asking for directions, I told them I would come by train. However, Google-maps calculates the car journey to be an hour and the City Car Parks website tells me parking for a day is a tenner. A return ticket by train will cost a staggering £42. The journey, I know, will take considerably longer than an hour, not to mention I'll be completely at the mercy of the system as soon as I step onto the platform. How can you be green in this economy?

Btw, I see HFW - an admirable fellow! - is encouraging readers to sign-up to green energy. He has installed a small wind-turbine and there's a ''live'' metering widget showing how much power it is producing and the wind speed. I'm fascinated; it's more interesting than the video art at Cheltenham gallery. Over several day's visits it appears to fluctuate between 0.1 and 0.2 kW. That's between 5 and 10 energy efficient light bulbs, an average house worth of illumination, but not quite enough to power an average kettle. But every little helps in the big picture, I realise this, and if everyone adopted a windmill to light their homes the capital cost of installing these things should come down and it wouldn't take ten years or more to recoup your expenditure, just before the thing falls to bits.

So the choice seems to be, be greener and be poorer, or, enjoy it while you can because, I repeat, how can you be green in this economy?

sport, photos & art (& shirts)

I did go back to Cheltenham - by car, not bus. I excused this by justified need: I may have a job interview and I need an interview shirt; I needed to be back home quickly to answer any pre-interview questions. However, I did nip into the Art Gallery to see the new exhibition, Athletes & Olympians. I was disappointed. I'm not really into sporting people and their achievements, and found the photos had little artistic interest: a mix of photo-journalism and clichéd studio posing. Someone had written in the visitors' book ''interesting historical photos, very impressive modern photos''. Actually, the ''historical'' ones, though small, were much better than the recent ones, free of the need for modern media gimmickry and nicely lit. By ''impressive'', he must have meant huge.

Downstairs there were three video pieces; a film of David Beckham asleep, an animation comprising 25 near identical, graphite drawings of rower, Steve Redgrave, and a huge white wall with holes behind which a dozen or so video screens showed various alternating images connected to swimmer, Duncan Goodhew, and his sport. The stark whiteness of the wall and the randomness of the images reminded me too much like anyone's Flickr page. The Redgrave drawings, displayed independently of the animation, were impressive. The animation made them look like a Rhubarb & Custard cartoon.

At the shops, hopefully not influenced by the art, I chose default white for my shirt. I also bought a grey and cream striped one for after the interview, if successful. I was hoping to find a nice green shirt, like Miles' on the cover of Milestones, but, alas, it seems style and fashion rarely meet.

five minutes

This chap, Matthew, from the BBC has this programme - more of an art project, really - in which a celebrity guest is interviewed for just five minutes. For some of his guests, five minutes is more than enough. Some might say this of Tony Benn, I'm sure, but I always like hearing what he has to say. Compare it, if you will, to Michael Portillo previously (who I knew in a different life.)

guilt trip

Wow, if guilt isn't featuring on the agenda this week! I went to visit the Cheltenham Museum & Art Gallery today, as per Paxman. I did think about taking the bus, the stop being five minutes walk from my door, but the fare would've been seven quid return, and the bus, old smoky, would have shaken the fillings from my teeth. In any case, car parking is not in short supply and two hours costs £2.50. This is the fundamental problem with using public transport: little incentive.

However, I felt bad about using the car for pleasure after using it very little over the past few months. And it felt strangely alien. I should have gone by bus. Or not at all. The Museum & Art Gallery turned out to be more museum than gallery, about 90/10 respectively. It would've been more if the larger exhibition room was exhibiting. It is next week, apparently. Maybe I'll go back. By bus.