As you may know, I've been blogging for quite some time. Things on this blog may have wound down however its far from the end.
You may follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/frompaul
Or visit my associated blog: http://morefrompaul.wordpress.com/
I do hope you will continue to nip in for a nosey from time to time and thanks, as always for visiting.
Paul
Just how hard can it be? Scott Joplin's iconic ditty is etched into the minds of classical music buffs the world over but what exactly does it take to be able to play it?
It's this basic question that prompted me (who cannot play the piano) to embark on a musical experiment extraviganza. Just how much time and effort would it take for a 'non-pianist' to polish this merry little tune. And so begins a journey which will end, hopefully in me being a whole £100 pounds richer as my wife seems fairly adamant that I can hardly scale the back door step let alone this musical masterpiece. Little does she know I have a very precise plan of attack: As follows.
1. Obtain the music. (already done thanks to pianopublicdomain.com)
2. Obtain some kind of suitable instrument (I'm working on this: Serious offers greatly appreciated on pthurst@gmail.com)
3. Find out what 'key' its in (its got four little 'b's on the music... pthurst@gmail.com once again for answers from all you 'muso's') Once I know the key, I will begin practicing the 'scale' unless I don't have a piano, in which case I'll practice in the apple store on their's...
4. Locate a patient, kind-hearted piano teacher who voluntarily will surrender their time teaching a complete beginner a piece of music that's on the 'Trinity Syllabus' at grade 8... Whatever that means.
5. Ply said individual with alcohol and anything else within reason until they agree to oversee this wonderful feat of human achievement.
6. Practice every day.
7. Weekly reassess my progress.
8. After I can play half, take a month out to ponder my achievement thus far (and prepare myself for the really difficult bit).
9. Attain note perfect recital abilities.
10. Perform in public. Become world famous and possibly audition for a TV talent competition where my unique abilities can be appropriately demonstrated.
And so, I begin the task. I've given myself six months to do all this which by my reckoning will allow me to learn 180 notes if I learn one a day. That means that even where you press more than one button at once, I should still be able to learn it... Eventually...
Updates to follow!
I had a surprise email yesterday, apparently this blog ranks quite high as far as UK politics goes.
At 215, I have been told that my blog is worthy of a badge that has been duly added. In the meantime, let's not forget some of the big political UK based blogs out there such as Guido Fawkes and my facebook buddy, Iain Dale.
Politics makes an ideal focus topic for bloggers an politicians alike. Still leading the way is webcameron which leads the way as far as political blogging and citizen (style) journalism goes.
What do you do when you want to become president of the USA? There's quite a few things to think about but you wouldn't think that keeping your flickr account up to date would be one of them. You'd be wrong though.
Yes, both Clinton and Obama can boast a high turnout as far as uploaded photographs go. It seems that every moment has been recorded for the candidates and despite trawling through a good 20 pages per politician, I haven't seen them holding the babies up just yet.
Now I have my doubts that they really are spending so much time online but I'm no sceptic when it comes to the question of communicating with as wider audience as possible. Gone are the days of radio, tv and newspaper battles, replaced instead with online blogs, video sharing websites and even, it would appear, photo sharing ones too?
What next? Bebo?
You can browse Hillary's photostream here. Obama's is here.
I've been using my holiday time to think about work (hmmmm) and I've decided how I can combine my main hobby with my job.
You won't be surprised to hear it means the launch of yet another web based platform but I'm pretty sure that as the content gets added, it will be worth a visit on more than one occasion.
I have decided to dedicate some time to recording and presenting a series of photographs based around the concept of social documentaries. This means that I will be recording photosets centred around people, places and events.
The website is already online and I'd be very grateful if you would consider adding it to your bookmarks and checking it out every now and again.
Thanks a lot and enjoy the rest of the holidays!
I've been busy searching through some of my favourite photographs from the past three and a half years and here's the result.
www.paulhurstphotography.com features some of my most popular work along with some of my personal favourites. Let me know what you think, and if you have your own photoblog or photowebsite then why not post a link here for other visitors to check out too.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the internet. Paul Hurst strikes with yet ANOTHER blog!
Mediawatchblog.tv is my latest pet project which is pretty self explanatory. For those who may need a bit more info, its a blog dedicated to cataloguing and commenting stories from the media perspective.
The blog may sit uncomfortably close to mediawatchblog.com however I thing that I'm offering something quite different than my fellow bloggers and hope they don't mind their new Tuvaluan neighbour too much!
You can check out the new blog at www.mediawatchblog.tv and please let me know what you think and throw me the odd-link or two if your a fellow blogger. I'd be very grateful.
Here's a shot presentation with some of my photographs in it. Hope you like them!
My Photo Portfolio from pthurst and Vimeo.
Every blogger wants the hits to be high and there's quite a few ways of making sure that your content ranks highly in Google too. A good post can see a massive spike in passing traffic but also repeat visits as well so imagine my interest when I came across this post.
The blog claims that by adding a few lines of text to your blog, the traffic and linkbacks will increase thanks to the laws of mathematics.
I couldn't resist giving it a go although I wonder firstly if it will work or not, and secondly, whats the pont in having artificially high figures if it does work?
I ended up justifying it by arguing that if your blog is more popular, then your material can be seen by a wider audience. In fact, you're doing everyone a favour!
Anyway here's the bit that's needed and if you'd like to include this on your blog, then simply copy the text below and paste it into your blog. Needless to say I will keep you posted.
Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!
Viralink
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When I receive a ping back once you have added the Viralink to your site I will add your link to this grid, and each person who copies the grid from here will also link to your site!
Rules
Only 1 link per person (i.e don't hog the viralink!)
Please don't tamper with other peoples url's
Enjoy!
*****EDIT****
I have been reliably informed that this isn't working on my site so please DON'T try to use it from here, you will be wasting your time.
Instead, Here's a site with all you need to know about this post, hopefully you will have more luck with it than I did :-)
Today has been one of the busiest days for techno-geeks the world over. The initials WWDC may not mean much to most, but to Apple aficionados, it one of the most important days in the diary.
If Apple corp were to release an 'on this day in history' The World Wide Developers Conference keynote speech from CEO Steve Jobs would include such delights as the original iMac (WWDC 1998), the PowerMac G5 (WWDC 2003) and of course the various versions of Apple's crowning glory, the iPod.
It based on this kind of hype and cult-brand-status that anyone who is remotely interested in Apple products can be forgiven for holding out high hopes for the day as far as gadgets and gizmo's go. In previous years, Steve's near-evangelical keynote has hit my credit card hard and I was expecting the same this year. Maybe an update to the iLife software and the aging iMac desktop? As the lights dimmed, I pulled up my laptop and prepared to want...
As it turns out, I was left wanting. Steve's keynote didn't lack enthusiasm or even the odd 'boom' here and there (I counted over 40 back in '03), what it did lack though was err... products. In fact I basically counted 2, the iPhone which isn't out here in the UK for ages (and isn't HSDPA compliant) and the upcoming operating system 'Leopard' which looks OK but doesn't flick my switches like laptops and desktop computers.
And that was about it... I was shocked and saddened (now there's two words you don't see together often!) with the lack of any 'real' products or upgrades. No iMac upgrades, no iPod upgrades, instead news that the beta software development is going ahead as planned and that the iPhone will also launch in the US in two weeks, where it will undoubtedly do well.
It also looks like I wasn't the only one to find this keynote 'lacking', as Steve bowed out, Apple's share price also seemed to be exiting-stage-left, with a 3.45% drop in value. It seems that the markets were also hoping that Steve would have more than a mobile phone and a CD up his sleeve. Alas! He didn't!
So as the dust settles, my hopes that the last poor keynote from Jobs was a one off were dashed and to add insult to injury, he even used his "one more thing" section to announce that apple are now coding software for PC'! What is the world coming to?
***Click the title to go to http://paulhurst.vox.xom***
As past of a blogging experiment into both methods and equipment used for the modern day bloggers, I have just started a new moblog.
rather than another place to write about things, this new blog concentrates on the world through the lens of my mobile phone. There's little to read but lots of pictures and videos to watch instead.
I suppose its a reflection on blogging technology and practice itself. As it stands, there are blogs out there that read like a personal journal and other that read more like a newspaper column and they are both largely centred around text. This is because visual media generally requires more effort to produce and upload.
As in my last post though, thats all about to change. the new handsets from Nokia at least, allow blogging integration straight from the camera app which means with an extra button press, your content is uploaded to your blog or flickr account. Couple this with more flexible data tariffs on mobiles and an ever widening internet 'hotspot' in our towns and cities and the result is a much more integrated lifestyle between people and their online blogs or second lifes, or whatever.
Its this kind of thing which has driven me to experiment. I wonder how my life will change if I am able to maintain a moblog without carrying a laptop round to coffee shops. I wonder what impact this record will have on my own understanding of who I am and what I do and even how I interpret events and emotions around me.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many must a constantly developing and evolving online journal be worth? I'm about to find out.
Imagine my shock, no horror! When I realised that in this world of 6,000,000,000 people, I am not the only, Paul Hurst.
We treat our names as our unique identifier and in most cases, they are sufficient for this purpose, although there was also another 'Paul Hurst' in my year at school. So how does the internet change our awareness of who we are?
The current buzzword may be social networking through sites like myspace and even blogs like mine. Each offer individuals a small slice of the web which we can call home, but have you ever done an image search in Google for your own name?
Here's what happens with 'Paul Hurst'
Aside from not being dead (which is always a relief!), It would appear as though I may be some kind of 'yokel' on the run...
And wait for it... How about Paul Hurst the world famous harp player...
And not just nimble with the fingers, but feet too! Lets not forget 'Paul Hurst' the full-back for Rotherham United Football club.
Go on, have a go yourself and please let me know if you can find other pictures of your namesakes from around the world, a bit like my mate George Bush.
Oh and if you'd like the official word on other people who share your name then pay a visit to 'how many of me.com'
I recently joined the 18 Doughty Street panel of 100 citizen journalists from all over the UK. 18 Doughty Street is a politically based blog which also features television programmes, filmed on the premises exclusively for the website. Although the site is not 100% affiliated to any political party, it leans heavily towards the Conservatives. Largley due to the fact that its founders are members of the Conservative party.
The house is located in London and is a few hundred yards from the home of Charles Dickens. It was also the house where his daugher was born.
The property has been refitted internally to become a state-of-the art television studio, with seven cameras and a full-staff of journalists, technicians and even... bloggers.
you can see my first report for the website here: It concerns the popularity of politics in the North West of England.
It would appear that Gordon Brown might just be greener than we all thought.
Recently spotted 'dipping' into the twilight zone that is the ministerial hooter, our future PM didn't appear to be picking his cabinet ministers. Rather he seemed to be tackling some, apparently more stubborn, green issues.
This very topic was mentioned on tonights 'Newsnight' on BBC 2 where Jeremy Paxman seemed to criticise bloggers for not really being the 'citizen journalists' that we are sometimes labelled as. Paxo seemed to prefer the 'stiff upper lip' of traditional newsgathering and reporting as opposed to the bloggers who do, admittedly seem more content to focus on what may be resting at the top of the lips instead.
I think the answer, as always, does lie somewhat in the middle. Both journalist and blogger do fulfill similar roles in that both 'mirror' events or culture. We just do it in different ways and, on this occasion, I am more grateful to the bloggers. They remind us to think twice before shaking hands with Mr Brown, especially if he's just leaving the commons.
You can read guido fawkes blog post here.
Here's the BBC's Nick Robinson's take on the issue of Blogger v Journalist and finally, you can check out the BBC's newsnight blog post here, The BBC's site also includes Guido's interesting film on this topic too.
Its been a while since I posted last on the guestblogger site but there's extra material on there now.
Please head over to here to read the newest article and keep visiting as the frequency with which people post will be increasing.
On that note, why not email me pthurst@gmail.com if you'd like to post something based on your professional work or experience. I am especially looking to post articles written by people who may not necessarily have their own blogs but if you'd just like to write an article for guestblogger then please do get in touch.
I am hoping that the community will grow into an interesting and useful resource for visitors to read about all kinds of different things.
The leader of the Conservative party in the UK has today been talking about 'building a cohesive society' and racial integration. I thought I'd take a few minutes to write down my thoughts for his blog and this one too.
So just how do we build a cohesive society? How do we tackle prejudice and racism in a way that is both realistic and robust?
It seems that hardly a day goes by these days without the word 'racist' being thrown around by one group or another. If its not in the Big Brother House then its in the even bigger House of Commons, but as I sat and watched a debate on TV tonight, I felt compelled to share some of my feelings. I hope you don't mind.
Despite all of our best efforts, todays society seems far from cohesive to me. In fact I'd say its adhesive.
Cohesive means to 'join things together', it takes effort on both parts, but our society seems to be quite different. In our adhesive society, groups and communities have merely been 'stuck onto' a wider base. Thanks to this one-sided effort, we have communities within communities and the less we understand about each other, the more everyone feels threatened.
So how do we go about fixing this? Well firstly I think it starts with you and me. Kindness, compassion and respect for those around us makes a huge difference. As a Christian, I believe that this 'love' isn't just about being nice, meek and mild. I think that this forms the basis of a coherent society, no matter what faith we practice, if any at all.
I care about people, I want to see those around me to be happy and to reach their full potential. That isn't a religious principle or a political mandate (although it makes an excellent basis for both), no its the desire to see our society join together to combat crime, to share in the arts and to build a positive hard-working economy. To improve life for all.
Now to some people reading this, you may see it as 'pie in the sky' politics. Surely this kind of principle can't make a difference in our 'asbo ridden' society. Well I think it can.
As part of my work as a freelance journalist, I teach in secondary schools and due to the nature of my projects, I work with groups of pupils, some of whom who are on the brink of exclusion or segregation. Its amazing to see these young people respond to the opportunity to express themselves creatively and also, more importantly, to be heard.
When we take people seriously, when we listen to their views and opinions and when we welcome their contributions to our communities, we actively engage in cohesion. We bring two different groups together. Of course this is social cohesion with the disaffected but I think the principle is the same.
Lets take the challenge to build a cohesive society by taking the first step. Lets come together in our communities to deal with the challenges together and lets stop tryig to 'shoe horn' someone else into our mould. Lets expect the same from all the different groups within this Great Britain.
Lets make a difference. Lets lead the way.
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Aside from these being my thoughts, I am seriously considering a career in political speech writing. I wonder how someone gets started in that type of thing?
For anyone who's interested in seeing yet another blog based project that I've been working on. Take a look at www.rockbusblog.com
The aim of the blog is to highlight what's what for the Rock FM bus and to also showcase the work that we do in the schools and communities.
My involvement with the project has steadily increased over the last few months. I now work pretty much full time on media training and teaching across North West schools and communities.
If you'd like more info on the bus then drop me an email and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Paul
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the internet... I'm blogging AGAIN!
Yup, ever the blogging evangelist (as well you may know), I am now in the process of designing and deploying a blog with Rock FM.
The blog will cover all the events that take place on the Rock FM bus and there will be pictures and audio in the mix too.
The Rock FM bus has been visiting schools all around the North west of England and will soon officially launch beyond its current 'pilot' status.
I will post a link to the new blog address when its all finished but in the meantime, if you need a blog and you think no-one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you should call the B-Team!
Looking for some social software thats just a bit different than the rest? Citypixel will probably be right up your street.
The format is based around an 80's 'pixel art' isometric city. You sign up and create your virtual citizen which can wander round the 'sim-city-esque' streets and nip into the odd building here or there.
You'll pass lots of other mini citizens along the way, and if they have a green line underneath, they're online.
Now just before your mind conjers up thoughts of animated isometric characters smoothly walking around your web browser, I must point out that your journey is done via clicks and as such, contains no movement at all (the gridlocked cars are fully animated in that regard).
So the main reason this site exists, as far as I can tell, is to dress up the rather tired idea of social software into new clothes and as such, I did find myself wondering why I was clicking around a very poorly designed navigation section just to reach user generated biogs etc. That was until I stumbled across a really, really neat feature.
Anyone who's played the 'sims' will be familiar with the house design element of the game. Well its here on this website! The tedium of statically navigating around the clumsy city was broken immediately as soon as I realised that its possible to claim your own 'virtual apartment' and even a 'virtual office' too. Your little avatar moves in and can drag, drop and arrange your furniture to your hearts content. Not only that, you can even create your very own website to allow visitors to peek through your keyhole.
My 'apartment'
'The office'
This kind of customisation really breathes promise into the Citypixel idea. You can visit anyone's apartment and rate them and you can even watch their YouTube videos if they have installed the little 'plasma screens' on their walls, I was impressed by what I saw here.
I suppose you could sum up Citypixel as a web-browser version of Second Life it has a cut-down feel of this kind of persistent world social software. I'm really hoping that the day will come when these incredibly cute (and detailed) pixel art characters and buildings become animated but until then, the customisable nature of my Citypixel home, will keep me popping back. Even if its just a holiday home away from Myspace or Second Life itself.
My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?
