I am Ashley Elsdon

Thank you Apple

Posted by ashleyelsdonon June 18, 2022in TechLeave a comment

I have had an iPhone 8 for a few years now, and, as with these kind of devices, the battery fades away over time. I decided that I would rather keep this device, as, for the most part, I have little or no need for anything more right now. So I thought I would try to get the battery replaced. I got booked in to the Apple store at Covent Garden and took it in. The staff told me that it would take about an hour.

I went off and got a drink and wandered back to the Apple store to pick it up. Sadly though, Apple had managed to break the phone whilst trying to replace the battery. I was a bit shocked to be honest. They had said when I left it that they might end up wiping the device, but not that they could break it.

However, to make up for this, they have replaced it entirely. Not with a newer device, but with a new iPhone 8. Which is nice. Of course this meant restoring everything to the new device, and that takes time.

Overall this was a good experience, although for the most part a little annoying as I am still restoring things to the new phone, but for the price of a new battery I got a new phone. Not bad really.

The Langham Research Centre at Cafe Oto

Posted by ashleyelsdonon March 6, 2022March 4, 2022in Events, Listening, Music, PlacesLeave a comment

I first saw the Langham Research Centre at the Barbican last month. I was really impressed by them. So when I got an email from Cafe Oto sent an email about them playing I decided I should go. Cafe Oto is a lovely place to see music, and I even played there once myself.

The LRC were great, as expected, and I also managed to have a quick chat with Robert Worby about sound and the words we use to describe sounds, or rather the fact that we have very few words that actually do describe sounds. It’s an interesting subject and one that needs some thought.

Next I think I need to probably buy some of the recordings. There is plenty on Bandcamp, which is where I will start. I am especially drawn to their piece ‘Gateshead Multi-storey Car Park’.

22:22 22/2/22

Posted by ashleyelsdonon February 22, 2022in StuffLeave a comment

This is just a very quick post to note this date and time. As I post this it is ten twenty-two on the 22nd of February of 2022. Simply put, it is 22:22 on 22/2/22. I thought that was worth noting.

That’s it.

Blancmange: Nil by Mouth IV and V

Posted by ashleyelsdonon February 2, 2022February 1, 2022in MusicLeave a comment

I have been listening to Blancmange since the 1980s. In recent years, I have found their (his) music much more introspective at times, and especially this series of instrumental albums ‘Nil By Mouth’. In this latest iteration, albums four and five arrive as a double album, and both live up to the previous quality.

I wrote about the first ‘Nil by Mouth’ back in 2015. I have bought all of them so far, and I expect to buy any that get released in the future.

When I was listening to these two (IV and V) I found, much like with the previous albums, this music seems to fit my mood very closely.

At some point, and possibly on a long journey somewhere, I might listen to all of them in one go.

The Southern Reach Trilogy

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 31, 2022in Books and Audiobooks, FilmsLeave a comment

My interest in this book / trilogy began when I saw the film ‘Annihilation’ on Netflix. I thought it was an interesting story and I wanted to read the book, if there was one. Little did I know that the ‘book’ was in fact a trilogy called the Southern Reach. I decided to read it. In part because I found the film version fascinating, and in part because I love a good trilogy.

At this point it is only prudent to point out that if you haven’t seen the film or read the books you might not want to read any further. I don’t want to give anything away, or at least that’s not my intention, but you never know.

I really enjoyed the film. I had no expectations of it at all and no idea what the story was about, but after watching it I realised that it had some very interesting concepts. Hence wanting to read the book(s). Of course, as with any movie made from a book as the original source material, the book is often better, or at least adds a great deal of context. Even more so with the South Reach Trilogy. In fact, the books add so much that they make a lot of the story make sense. Having said that, in the trilogy, the story is complicated, or rather the core concept is complicated, or perhaps a better word is dense, or even impenetrable.

I think that I enjoyed reading the books. In a way they shed no real light on the film, and the film sheds no light on the books. The books to add a lot of context though. I enjoyed both. With both I am wondering what happens next. Perhaps that in itself is a good thing. Perhaps that in a sense, is the point.

Winchester Cathedral

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 25, 2022in PlacesLeave a comment

Over the last weekend I was fortunate enough to visit Winchester Cathedral. I don’t think I have been here before, or at least if I have, I have no memory of it. Winchester is the oldest cathedral in England, and, when it was first built, the city was the capitol, which is a strange thought in itself. Winchester city is small. Not that that is a bad thing in any way. I quite like it.

The cathedral itself is rather beautiful. Whilst there I was lucky enough to go on two tours around the building. Both of these tours focused on the history and politics of the building, which, whilst very interesting, seemed to miss the essential purpose of the cathedral, as a place of worship. Now I understand that these kinds of tours are aimed at tourists, that’s a given, but I still consider that at least some mention of why it is there and what its core purpose is, would be not just relevant, but really quite essential.

Whilst I was there I also listened to a rather beautiful performance by a choir. It was only 20 minutes long, but thoroughly enjoyable. If you’re interested in it, you can find it on my podcast.

What else will Disney remake?

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 24, 2022January 19, 2022in UncategorizedLeave a comment

I noticed that Disney is making a series of the original film ‘Willow’, which made me wonder what else they might make. If I had any say in the matter I would want them to make ‘The Black Hole‘ again. It was an excellent film back in its day, and in fact it still is pretty good. I think it has stood the test of time pretty well.

The original film is on their streaming service. I had bought the DVD a few years ago, and even went as far as to read the book. Which was almost identical to the film of course, and gave no more clues to the ending (see my previous post).

I think that this is a story that is just ripe for revisiting, especially as science fiction is very popular right now. I’m sure I’ll be wrong though. I have every expectation that this will never happen, but you never know. Stranger things have occurred.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 20, 2022in People2 Comments

Mr Baker is, without a doubt, the best Doctor Who ever. What is more I am amazed and totally delighted that he is still making new stories. Stories that I love. I am especially looking forward to the next set of stories coming out in March this year. It will be a bit of a departure, but I am sure it will be amazing.

Happy birthday Mr Baker, may you continue for many years to come.

Brian Patten, Selected Poems

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 18, 2022in Books and Audiobooks, PoetryLeave a comment

I bought this collection late last year after reading ‘Vanishing Trick’ again after decades. I enjoyed it so much I had to have more of his work, and I wonder why I haven’t read this sooner. His work is incredible, insightful, poignant and beautiful. Some of these poems just bring me up short, like they were written entirely to speak to me in the very moment that I find myself reading them. They are incredible.

In some ways I just want to read it all over again, but I should probably wait. Instead I might just buy more of his books and satisfy myself with those.

If you don’t know his work, change that.

Finding new uses for old technology (or not)

Posted by ashleyelsdonon January 11, 2022May 23, 2026in Tech, Thinking1 Comment

I recently read an article about people finding new uses for old technology. When I saw the article I was very keen to find out the what and the how, but I was sadly disappointed to discover that it was mostly about people using iPod Shuffles as hair clips. Which is not what I was after really.

For ages I’ve been trying to think of ways to make use of old technology. Uses for the technology that make sense, that are productive and interesting. I’m not really interested in using an old iPod as a hair clip. I don’t think it would suit me for one thing.

One thing I did manage to cobble together was using my old Pebble smartwatch as a key chain.

Not that it is a very useful device if I am honest. It is kind of useful to have the time on my keys, and some notifications are helpful there too, but aside from that it has not been the most successful of experiments.

So what else?

Ideally I would like to find a way to make real use of the old PDAs I have. Over the last couple of years I have sold off a lot of the old devices I owned, and I owned a lot. But I still have a few left that I feel unable to part with. Most of these devices don’t connect to the internet, and if they do they are painfully slow.

A few of them can be used for rudimentary music making, but that is really all it is though. So what could I use them for? That’s the question that is on my mind a lot of the time. Ok, not a lot of the time, but periodically and it is something that I seem to go back to on a regular basis.

As you can see I have used these devices in a variety of different ways over the years, and, whilst some of them have been interesting and fun, none of them have really had long term appeal or efficacy.

Most of the time I find that I need less technology these days rather than more, so finding a real use for any of these devices seems to become harder all the time.

To start off with I am reviving the Sony NX73V. This is a lovely device and one that I actually bought from new.

I found that there was a restore image on the memory stick from 2018, which is probably the last time I went through this process. Next I need to go through all the stuff that is now on the device from the restore process, but that is a post for another day.