Rocking Aylesbury memories

Punk band 999 at Friars in 1979 (Photo by Chris Gibbons)

Bit of indulgent nostalgia, this. When I were a lad, some of the best times – and certainly some of the best gigs I ever went to – were at a small club in Aylesbury, Bucks called Friars. It was run mainly by a wizard promoter, Dave Stopps, who had an uncanny knack of booking acts just before they broke nationally (Bowie, Queen to name but two). The club closed in the mid-80s but recently a site has been created to mark the club’s 40th anniversary. For what it’s worth, I posted some reminisces on the site and you can read some of my hazy memories here.

The Good Enough Revolution

Just firing up the blog after a welcome break from the heat in Nova Scotia. My in-flight reading on the way back included the latest version of Wired, which included this interesting piece by Robert Capps on the tech trend towards cheap and simple services and gadgets that are “good enough”. In everything from MP3s to Flip-style camcorders, it seems, convenience is winning out over quality.

Microsoft Not Allowed to Sell Word

Well here’s a bit of a shocker for Redmond as a judge in Texas hands down an injucntion over Open XML. Microsoft Not Allowed to Sell Word – PC World.

The Album Is Dead … again

Interesting bit from Wired.com on the latest  Apple-inspired i-music revolution as artists like Ingrid Michaelson (below) begin to realise the  potential of the app store. (No, I have no idea who she is either, but it madde a cute pic for this post …)