Hi neighbors. I've moved my blog to TypePad. You can now visit me at http://camscampbell.typepad.com/vox/. You can follow me on TypePad by visiting my profile. See you there!
09/03/2010
05/21/2010
Books: Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
View on Amazon with my referral code
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It follows the story of Mr Okada, a seemingly ordinary fellow at the outset but his life becomes weirder and weirder as the story progresses. My favourite chunks were the stories of Lt Mamiya. It's kind of built up of different people's stories, all of which affect the protagonist and leads to his becoming much more self aware.
It's a somewhat quirky tale that is quite unlike anything I've ever read before. It grabbed a hold of my attention like a thief in the park and kept a hold of it until the end of the story. I normally read fantasy or sci-fi so this is a bit of a step outside the box for me and one that I'm very glad I took. I'm recommending this to pretty much everyone I know and for good reason.
Thanks to Steve Betz for the recommendation!
04/21/2010
02/23/2010
Night Snipers
This is a fairly new discovery for me, found through last.fm when listening to my favourite Russian band, Akvarium. They're called Night Snipers and this song is called Black Sun. I uploaded it for two friends of mine who I thought would like it since they like Apocalyptica (which I actually don't, but there you have it).
02/20/2010
02/09/2010
Books: Under the Dome
Just finished the audio book of Stephen King's latest novel. It was very enjoyable, but I feel empty afterwards. Good entertainment but does not feed the soul. A throw-away page-turner.
The concept was very clever and the characters were wonderful and deep, as Stephen King's characters always are. That's what kept me going I think.
If you've enjoyed other Stephen King novels, chances are you'll enjoy this.
02/01/2010
01/04/2010
Accordion
1979 maybe? I'm not sure what age I was when I started playing, but this must have been near the beginning as it's a 12-bass so must have been my first one. I moved up to a 72, which I still have as it happens, but it's not a terribly good one and good ones are so expensive. Besides, I'm kind of caught up with guitar and mandolin so not sure where I'd fit accordion in, and I'd only end up playing ceilidhs anyway. Maybe one day though.
01/03/2010
Epson Perfection V750 Pro
I ummed and ahhed for ages just before we left Luxembourg about whether to spend so much money on a decent scanner. I decided that I would and I'm so glad that I did. I scanned all of my and Lorraine's prints before we moved and then binned them all.
After my dad died in November 2009, I brought all their photos home and have been going through them bit by bit and I'll tell you what, that scanner is terrific. It's really fast and, using VueScan, it's so easy to do whole batches at a time or do one at a time with colour correction etc, then into Photoshop for some adjustments and the results are very good indeed. So much better than the original prints that have faded so badly that the image is barely discernable.
Not sure whether this scanner has been superseded yet; in all likelihood it will have been as we've had it for over two years. But that means these should be more affordable. If you've got a big scan project looming, consider the Epson and buy VueScan. SilverFast came with the scanner and it's pretty hard to use. The Epson software is okay, but VueScan rocks.
The pictures are me in 1978 in my primary school uniform with Trudy the dog that was eventually put to sleep for biting my brother. The next one is me and my brother on the swings down Prestwick beach and the third one is my mum, who, believe it or not, used to be rather a good shot.
After my dad died in November 2009, I brought all their photos home and have been going through them bit by bit and I'll tell you what, that scanner is terrific. It's really fast and, using VueScan, it's so easy to do whole batches at a time or do one at a time with colour correction etc, then into Photoshop for some adjustments and the results are very good indeed. So much better than the original prints that have faded so badly that the image is barely discernable.
Not sure whether this scanner has been superseded yet; in all likelihood it will have been as we've had it for over two years. But that means these should be more affordable. If you've got a big scan project looming, consider the Epson and buy VueScan. SilverFast came with the scanner and it's pretty hard to use. The Epson software is okay, but VueScan rocks.
The pictures are me in 1978 in my primary school uniform with Trudy the dog that was eventually put to sleep for biting my brother. The next one is me and my brother on the swings down Prestwick beach and the third one is my mum, who, believe it or not, used to be rather a good shot.
01/02/2010
Books: A Prayer for Owen Meany
I've enjoyed John Irving's books for years now and this one just came out on Audible. It came at a perfect time for me. I kept it until we went our holidays to Tenerife in November and I started listening to it as I lay in the sun by the pool.
The book is the tale of Owen Meany narrated by his best friend, John Wheelwright. Owen is small and has a strange voice. It's really the tale of why he is small and why he has a strange voice, but it's so much more than that. The book moved me in a way that no other book ever has. I'm at a point in my life where my faith in God is developing and this book fits right into that. Owen believes in God and has a lot to say on the subject of religion.
One of John Irving's strong points is his character development. In all the books of his that I have read, I've found his characters to be fully 3-dimensional and believable. All are flawed, just as I am, and it makes the characters easy to relate to. I'm not sure whether I'm getting that across very well, but for those who've read Garp or a Widow for a Year, you'll know what I mean.
If only Audible would do more John Irving books. I'd be on them like a shot!
Recent Comments