Gay as Dumbledore

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"Don't be a prisoner of your own style."
- Armin van Buuren

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It may be the time of computer fixers like me is coming to an end. A month ago I was asked to fix a tower PC with a dodgy hard disk - and in fact couldn't make it work. Now the owners have inherited a hand-me-down replacement with flat screen...and given me theirs. Complete with monitor, mouse and speakers.

If I hadn't got it, it'd be in the dustbin. Yep, for some people (and poor people at that) it's easier to throw away a computer than fix it, because there's others (slightly richer) who can give away last year's model following an upgrade.

Ah, you're thinking I've been given a nonworking computer as a gift, which will end up in my own dustbin if I can't make it work this time. Possibly, but I think I can get it working...and possibly then give to one of the two people I know who could use a new (old) computer. Hmm.

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Mother has got herself a (slightly) early christmas present - a miniature laptop, and I'm quite impressed by it.

With 4GB solid state HDD, 512MB RAM, and a 0.9 GHz single core running speed, its specifications don't approach my own old laptop. But being about 12'' across and weighing less than a kilogram, plus built in Wi-Fi and decent onboard soundcard, you can carry it in your shoulderbag without getting cramp or carrying another shoulderbag for everything else.

It's marketed at children, or rather their parents, as a learning tool, but I reckon it'd be a useful tool for teachers too. Oh, and it's GBP200.

I'll even forgive the immensely silly name - Eee PC.

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The lead actor from Doogie Howser MD (which I've never seen) came out as gay. So did an actor from Grey's Anatomy (which I've never seen). And one of the wizards from the Harry Potter films (which I've never seen) was outed by the writer.

Which of these caused the most activity on blogs and bulletin boards? Yes, the outing of a fictional character caused more fuss and heated debate than two real people coming out.

Is it me, or is that a bit daft?

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I now have two new movies to enjoy. One is a sensitive exploration of unquenchable desire and the fleeting impermanence of human contact in modern urban culture, entitled, um, Damon Blows America Volume 8: Los Angeles. Yes, well. Anyway, [Cough].

The other is...Can't Stop the Music! The 1980 camparama which created the Village People, featured Busby-Berkley-style set pieces of athletic young men jumping into swimming pools, and tried at the same time to be a family friendly film about a band of musicians.

I know which is more homosexual, but I'm not sure which is gayer.

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I've been getting increasingly into music that isn't really music at all - slow developing drony ambient stuff.

The kind made by (for instance) swinging a microphone in front of a faulty heater, feeding the result through delay and cutup modules, mixing with birdsong and rainstorm, and stuck on a CD with unenlightening titles like "Subreticulate 3" or "Sparkling the Dimmest Memory".

Current favourite among those ambient artists who get record deals with incredibly obscure labels and put hours of back catalogue on their website: Drone Forest.

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