Ports Thoughts

We all know the old joke. There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't. Well I think I might have stumbled upon something that might help those folks who don't understand or at least have a problem visualising it. It's not quite Charles Babbage's Difference Engine , but some eccentric Canadian dude has built a 6 bit binary adding machine out of wood using marbles as the bits. It is really rather smart in that it actually isn't a million miles away from how a digital computer does it - obviously without the marbles! - but it is also a lovely bit of woodwork. If you like this then you can visit the dudes Web Site where he explains exactly how he did it.

I always love it when I get invited to a wedding. Especially when it is two such smashing friends as Al and Lynne. Here they are receiving the first of many barrels of confetti outside the church. Both of them looked radiant. Being slightly unconventional folks they decided that the appropriate way to feed the masses at the reception was a fantastic hog roast. Don't worry, there was some tofu salad for the vegetarians. Well that pig doesn't eat itself! Here are Laura, Ellen, Marcus, Lightning Tom and Damon troffing. One of the lovely things about weddings is getting to see those friends who you don't get to see half as often as you would like to. So it was great to catch up with my god daughter Millie. Of course all good weddings end up with everyone making fools of themselves on the dance floor. Here is Julius, Ali and Sally.

You may have heard that the Simpsons are making a little filum . Well as you can see I have managed to get a part. I also managed to get a part for Boo the cat. OK. Not really. But this is fun. Create your own yellow fella simpsonizeme.com . Sadly none of this stuff appears to work in Firefox . Tsk. That really isn't good enough for a show that constantly lambasts monopoly and the casual abuse of power.

So for Al's stag night 8 of us started off with a couple of liveners in Kew before heading out in couple of taxi's a Mexican restaurant in central London where we consumed 5 pitchers of margarita and some lovely food. Here is the gang on the way to Somerset house where we were going to see a gig. We weren't going to see the Lion King incidentally. We were just saying that Al was the Lion King for the day. Not that I've ever seen a lion is a waistcoat. We had managed to keep the event a secret from Al. He dreaded the thought that we would be taking him to Stringfellows or something cheesy like that. Like we would have got in! Instead we took him to see Bert Jansch with Beth Orton and Bernard Butler at Somerset House . That might sound a but dull for a tag night but the atmosphere was amazing and nothing is dull after 5 pitchers of Margarita. As you can see, Al approved. For a folk singer Bert lays on quite a light show. The final surprise was that we had laid on taxis...

As a parent you do what you can, but there are some things that are out of your control. Despite our best efforts it is looking like Lucy is going to be a south paw. A left hooker. Left Handed! Apparently surgery can't help. It look like she is destined to have bad hand writing, an inability to use scissors and an artistic temperament. At least there is a store she can go to visit others who have the same condition... Obviously I'm joking and we don't care. Both my Mum and Sister are afflicted. But this article is very interesting . And there really is a store for left handed freaks folks. You can find it here .

Blighty has been stuck by some pretty heavy rain lately. Places that have seldom been flooded before have received a hammering. I originally come from the East Yorkshire hamlet of Hull and it was hit very hard. My sister Chris sent me this picture of kids kayaking down that road where my first flat was in The Avenues. (I do wonder where the kayaks came from, someone was obviously very prepared!). They say 36,000 people have been affected in Hull alone. That is really serious for one of the most impoverished northern city's to handle. My folks still live in Hull, and I was very happy and relieved to find out that they had missed out on the nasty stuff. They have a big ol ' puddle in the back garden but the house was OK. The neighbours weren't so lucky, but as my Dad said - "What a difference an extra inch can make". I'll let you insert your own crude jokes here ;-) All was not well down south either. This movie clip shows a hail storm outside our house. In Ju...