Having had to wait and watch others go onto the Island with their luxury items I’ve been panicking that someone would take this item before me, but thankfully they haven’t.
For me I couldn’t go anywhere without my camera. I would actually feel lost without it. Not for wanting to take pictures to share (I rarely take pictures of people out of choice), but to satisfy the frustration of seeing something and not being able to capture it.
Even in a limited space like an island no subject would photograph the same twice, different light, different seasons, different angles, all waiting to be captured. My camera for me is my mask, it enables me to see without my face being seen. A grown up comfort blanket.
Okay so I am going to apologise in advance that this is a business related website, but as any small business owner knows there never really is “time off”, and even if I am enjoying life on Twitter Island I’ll still want to be checking up on what’s going on with the business! This is a site I SERIOUSLY wished I’d known about when I started up.
Kashflow was recommended to by a fellow small business owner through twitter. First off it’s an online accounting package, with all the information based in the “cloud”, this means both myself and my Devon based finance department can upload and access all the information real time. It also enables me to raise quotes and invoices in a branded template within minutes and email them as pdfs to clients from wherever I may be. It calculates tax & VAT returns. Most importantly it provides me with “management information” P&L reports, sales data splits, outstanding invoices, data which to be honest in corporate land would have involved 20 different people, four different departments and at least 2 days turn around and still wouldn’t be in the format you needed it to be!
One of the hardest things about running your own business (especially if you have come out of a large business/corporate world) is that you have to pretty much do it all, and outstanding tools like Kashflow can so easily save you oodles of time so you can concentrate on doing what you do rather than being bogged down in paperwork and most importantly you always have access to the health of the business which is where a lot of small businesses can be caught out.
It’s really easy to use, doesn’t have a hefty price tag, has a comprehensive and responsive support service and is constantly improving. It even has a free trial and and a great social networking presence @KashFlow. And no I’m not on commission just really really impressed!
One of my favourite Shakespeare plays (I always fancied myself playing Juliet in my very short acting career!) there are two things about this film which really struck me – the fabulous and almost photographic cinematography of Baz Luhrmann, and a stunning soundtrack including “#1 Crush” by Garbage and “Talk Show Host” by Radiohead.
I always have a small sense of dread when I hear the description “a modern interpretation of a classic” but in my mind this film really pulled it off.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I first read this when I was about 10 and I remember feeling anger, indignation and a huge sense of injustice at her treatment as a child. Every time I read the book I always find a sense of empathy with Jane at the different stages of her life.
Whilst the story may be a tad far-fetched at times I find something new to take away from it every time I read it. It was even the first book I downloaded and read on the iPad!
This weeks castaway, @imagingessence was one of the people who helped devise the idea (and is IT support), and is finally here. While not the first person to join who is married to someone on the island, she is the first who is married to me. Yes, the wife has now joined, and as a trained chef and professional photographer things can only get better.
As always, music first, and I am actually surprised…
I’ve had plenty of time to think about my choices as clearly conjugal rights don’t extend to jumping the queue to getting on twitter island
Music
There have always two potential choices for this category for me, and the final choice came down to my mood on the day of writing. My music island choice is a certain Mr Jones. Mr David Jones. AKA Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke etc etc.
My first introduction to Bowie was through a school friend at the age of about 13, just to clarify this wasn’t the popular “Let’s Dance” album of the time, but the mind blowing track “Time” which featured on on the opening of side 2 of “Alladin Sane” (ironically written the month I was born). This track grabs me as much as today as it did the hormonal teenager who heard it for the first time. It’s a combination of the sense of emotion in the lyrics and his unique voice, no one else sounds like David Bowie. It didn’t escape me that he was also quite easy on the eye
I can relate a Bowie album to nearly any point of my life (including climbing Snowdon on a school trip listening to “Ziggy Stardust” on repeat), and the only time I have genuinely gone “weak at the knees” is when I got within 10 feet of him.
With his huge back catalogue there would always be a Bowie track to match any mood on the island.
As mentioned on Day 2, one of my passions is everything outside of the ball of rock we live on. So to those that follow me on twitter, I am sure you won’t be surprised at this choice.
The enormity of the Universe is mind blowing, and never ceases to amaze me, and there’s nothing quite like being under dark skies and looking in awe at the stars.
Whilst virtually all that you can see with the naked eye is sat within our own Galaxy (The Milky Way), with the aid of a scope, there’s a hell of a lot more to see.
From a detailed glimpse of Saturn and it’s rings, to Andromeda (the closest galaxy to ours). Jupiter and it’s moons is a fantastic sight or there’s any number of deep sky objects/galaxies and nebulae to nose at.
I’m sure even if it hasn’t interested island dwellers before, a glimpse or two of even the close to home objects close up and ‘live’ would have a few hooked!
And finally, for those that have never realised quite how small we are and how much there is out there, this video will give you the idea! Absolutely jaw dropping!
Whilst some may have a view on the BBC, it’s funding, and it’s political allegiances, etc. I simply think it’s a world leader! There’s not much in current times to make me proud to be British, but this is undoubtedly one.
In relation to news and sport the sheer breadth of reporting on a multitude of topics is amazing. From local to worldwide news, from science and the environment to technology (a personal favourite), business and virtually every sport imaginable, their coverage in my very humble opinion is second to none.
From a programming perspective there’s very little they don’t cover; sport, comedy, drama, radio (in all sorts of guises), natural history and science. When you add in iPlayer and other streaming services, it’s simply a website that I could not to do without.
There’s already some fantastic cinematography on the Island and in fairness a few great choices have already been taken, but there’s something about this film that makes it a great one in my book.
It’s dark (Not just in a story sense but also in it’s visual appearance), moody and twists and turns with some fantastic lines.
The main character (Porter – played by Mel Gibson) is a bad man, but you can’t help but root for him. ‘The Outfit’ from whom he is trying to get $70K back are a fearsome hierarchical gangland organisation.
You wonder quite how he’s going to cope going up against them, one man against hundreds without adding in some corrupt cops and The Triad.
Either way you cannot not notice the size of Porter’s cojones!
The Earth From The Air 365 Days – Yann Arthus-Betrand (Reprinted many times but I bought it in 2002)
Whilst I am sure that (in my mind) Twitter Island is a destination of idyllic beauty, those that follow me on twitter know that I am fascinated in everything outside of the sphere that we live on.
Outside of that, and from where the human race started, this ball of rock offers a level of interest and diverse environments that I would love to see in the full, and whilst I have seen a few, I have no hope of seeing anywhere near all (or part) of the amazing places and different environments that exist so close to us. After all the world is a small place!
The book I have chosen is a picture (or 365) of ‘Our World’ taken from the air. The pictures are beautifully composed, take you there, and tour the planet in a wonderful way! If you have no chance of getting to places, this book transports you in a way I have never been taken.
Each picture is accompanied by text that gives historical, scientific, and a social narrative to the picture. I hasten to add that it’s not wordy, verbose or vaguely ‘heavy’!
From the Giant at Cerne Abbas to the Valley of the Nile, to the Alwyn Oil Field in the North Sea to the Chernobyl region in the Ukraine. From Jordan to the Iraqi tank graveyard in Kuwait. Kathmandu (A place I would love to see) and a hummingbird at Nazca in Peru. Ethiopia, France, Canada, Iceland, Stonehenge, Mali, the US, Australia and the Ivory Coast all feature, amongst many more!
I cannot say quite how much this book gives to those (and there will not be many who have the ‘job’ as ‘explorer’) who could never attempt to see the wonder in person.
A true picture of our ‘ball of rock’!
All pictures credited as per the original book and sourced from the internet. As always, any issues please contact me.
Coming out to join us on the island and risking the passport control on a Bank Holiday Monday is a man whose twitter name gives at least two clues about him. I am pleased to announce that @bmthyid is joining us, having chatted on line a lot and met him I am sure he is going to bring some great new additions to the island – and as always we start with music.
Sting – Bring On The Night (Live) – 1986
To set the scene I spent (or misspent) my youth as a classically trained Double Bass player and also played in a jazz (with a little funk) band. I did a lot of amateur classical performance all over the place (Albert Hall performances being pretty special), and the band was a regular money earner (A weekend performing in a tent in the Green Field at Glastonbury was fantastic). As a consequence my musical taste is somewhat diverse. Although one of the most important things in music that I look for is the skill of the performers and production. Whether it be vocal or instrumental the same applies.
I’m not sure what people make of Sting. The Police were an amazing act and where he has ended up in recent years could be subject to debate.
When The Police disbanded Sting made a studio album called Dream of the Blue Turtles, and whilst I never bought it, I did happen across a live album called ‘Bring on the Night’ which was in essence the tour of the above album with some extras thrown in.
Whilst most (if not all) will know Sting, what is somewhat amazing about this album is the musicians with whom he collaborated.
Omar Hakim the Weather Report drummer. If you haven’t heard of Jaco Pastorius who was a master bassist who died far too young, some of their work is amazing.
Branford Marsalis on sax – Brother of 9 times Grammy winner Wynton Marsalis
Darryl Jones – an amazing bass player who has toured with the likes of Cher, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, etc. and took over the reigns from Bill Wyman for the Stones.
And finally but certainly by no means least, Kenny Kirkland, a quite astounding keyboard player.
If you can’t afford the full 10 minutes, have a listen to this from circa 4 minutes in, Kenny Kirkland’s three minute solo (from 4.30) is something to behold and a thing of true improvised beauty. And Omar Hakim’s rise and fall with him is also true genius. Well at least I think so!
I hope it does, but if it doesn’t float your boat, be thankful I didn’t bring Pat Metheny’s Letter From Home, or Nigel Kennedy performing Walton’s Viola and Violin Concertos! Although both of those are well worth a listen as well! ;o)
