Stewart's Place: cheapo hand-drawn logo

Updated 10 March 02002.

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Odd Things

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Catherine and Stewart Catherine and me at the harbour in Annapolis, Maryland. I'm the one in the ill-advised sunglasses. (This picture replaces a spectacularly silly one of me in a platinum blonde wig. It made sense at the time.)

What I Do

For the moment, I produce dictionaries. I really enjoy it. I get to program in lots of different languages (but mostly Perl) on Unix systems. When I'm not actually typesetting, I do various support jobs like developing intranet applications. I'm nominally a Senior Systems Analyst, so every now and then I check that the Suns are happy. I run Linux at home --- do you have a problem with that?

Carland Cross Windfarm, near Truro I used to be involved in windfarm building. I still think it's a neat industry. All that outdoor work (with lots of heavy lifting) ceased to be so inviting, especially in winter. Going cross-eyed analysing millions of columns of numbers started getting to me, too.

What I Also Do

ex-PO Pashley roadster Brompton bike logo

I bike everywhere. I ride, variously, a Brompton L5 folding bike, and a very heavy ex-Post Office heavy delivery bike. The latter's for when the going is a bit marshy for the former; Bromptons really don't like to be hammered along the grit soup that is a canal towpath. The Pashley -- for some reason painted olive drab by its former owner -- with its big steel hub brakes and hub gears needs very little maintenance.

Speedliner BlueGlide I used to have a BlueGlide recumbent, built by the now-defunct Speedliner company. It's an M5 design, built with budget components.

Voigtländer Bessa-R rangefinderI'm also a bit of a rangefinder camera geek. You'll usually find me carrying a Voigtländer Bessa-R, and perhaps even taking some pictures with it.

What I Read

Well, there's Uncle of course, and...

Buy Nothing Day I don't really like the idea that advertising is taking over our lives. Adbusters feel the same, and their subvertisements combine humour with a sharp social message. This November, why not join in and buy nothing --- participate by not participating!

Dalí & Halsman's book cover Combine Dalí's puckish sense of humour with Halsman's excellent technical camera work, and this is what you get; "Dalí's Mustache".

From Lucas & Morrow's 'What a Life!' If the relentless self-promotion of the Dalímeister is too much to take, try Lucas & Morrow's Edwardian classic "What A Life!". It's a cross between Edward Lear and Monty Python. As far as I know, it's completely out of print, but for my web version.

There's also a lot of Ivor Cutler, Kinky Friedman and Edward Gorey involved, but you probably guessed that. And Uncle, of course. But I've already said that.

Augustus Carp, Esq And who could forget the southern metropolitan Xtian gentleman, Augustus Carp, Esq? A wonder of false piety and dark humour, you can read the whole text on Eric Eldred's excellent site, if Eric still has it.

What I Listen To

Air, Altered Images, Amy Rigby, Anne Dudley, Apples in Stereo, Badly Drawn Boy, Beck, Bert Jansch, Beth Orton, Beulah, Bill Hicks, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Billy Childish & His Famous Headcoats, Björk [Guðundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar], Bob Dyer, Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, The Byrds, Carey Bell, John Cephas & Phil Wiggins, Chocolate USA, Coal Porters, Dafydd Iwan, Denis Leary, E, Eels, Elf Power, Elvis Costello, Eurythmics, Fleetwood Mac, Fred Lane & Ron 'Pate's Debonairs, Fred Schneider, Garbage, Grandaddy, Hasil Adkins, Holly Near, Hüsker Dü, Indigo Girls, Ivor Cutler, Jah Wobble, Janis Joplin, Jeff Buckley, Jeff Mangum, Jim White, Joan Osborne, John Herald, John Linnell, Johnny Cash, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, J.S. Bach, Julee Cruise, Julian Cope, Kate Bush, Kinky Friedman, Kraftwerk, Lauryn Hill, Les Negresses Vertes, Liz Phair, Lou Reed, Lucky Dog Wilson, Major Organ and The Adding Machine, Mercury Rev, Mono Puff, Muddy Waters, Music Tapes, Nanci Griffith, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nick Drake, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Of Montreal, Old Blind Dogs, Olivia Tremor Control, Pavement, Penguin Café Orchestra, Peter Gabriel, Pete Seeger, Pink Floyd, Primal Scream, Radiohead, R.E.M., Richard Thompson, Robyn Hitchcock (& The Egytians), Roy Harper, Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Steve Forbert, Steve Wynn, Super Furry Animals, Supertramp, Syd Barrett, Talking Heads, Tanya Savory, Teenage Fanclub, Terry Edwards and the Scapegoats, The Apples in Stereo, The Art of Noise, The B-52's, The Beta Band, The Byrds, The Cars, The Cramps, The Dukes of Stratosphear, The Flaming Lips, The Incredible String Band, The James Taylor Quartet, The Ladybug Transistor, The Lemonheads, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Small Faces, The Soft Boys, The Sugarcubes, The Velvet Underground, The Waterboys, They Might Be Giants, Thomas Dolby, Tom Jones, Tom Waits, Tony Hancock, Tori Amos, Tricky, Underworld, Violent Femmes, Walter Horton, Warren Zevon, Junior Wells, Western Electric, Woody Guthrie, XTC, Yes, Yo La Tengo

What I Eat

Empty pack of Reece's Pieces Reese's Pieces, for preference. These are rather difficult to get here (you can sometimes get them in tiny bags at Woolworth's), so I usually have to rely on Stateside sources. And just to prove it, here's one I finished earlier.

Nutty Nuggets in OR, MO and CT plumages There's also Nutty Nuggets, a generic Grape Nuts clone that's better and cheaper than the real thing. These are completely unavailable here --- bah. I'd prefer not to buy my cereal from a tobacco company, but what's a guy to do for his tasty toaster-crumb-like snack?

What I Play

Mussehl and Westphal Musical Saw Yes, really; a musical saw. After hearing Julian Koster's saw work with They Might Be Giants & Neutral Milk Hotel, I had to play one too. I'm now making several popular tunes less so through my dreadful playing. I've got some hints on sawing here.

I also play the harmonica, really badly.

Animals

Jumbo Nibbles, Best in Show 2001

I breed bunnyphants. My book "The Care & Feeding of the Lesser Bunnyphant" will be published next year.


Stewart C. Russell, Kirkintilloch, Scotland