This has been going on so long it no longer feels like news to me.
Nonetheless it *is* news and it’s good news.
Say hello to VROOM Magazine – my latest web launch and a project that I have really enjoyed developing along with stv21 (that’s Tamara to you and me) – who helps run the BatiFans network of sites as well as her own blog, Sonrisa de Talavera.
VROOM Magazine has been in build since late 2009, and has been the subject to ongoing development, content backfilling and design tweaks to bring it up to a really spiffing launch standard. And of course that’s all well and good, but the key question is *what is it*?
There are plenty of websites out there dedicated to MotoGP (mainly the top class admittedly) and to bikesport in general. VROOM Magazine was built because in running BatiFans it became apparent that fans who support one Spanish rider quite often support or follow or take quite an interest in others – often, many others, too. It’s not everyone of course – and we all have our likes and dislikes – but it has definitely been a genuine and widespread phenomenon.
And basically we thought it was worth exploring… Was it worth publishing a full-blown webzine whose mission is to focus solely on Spaniards? Read the rest of this entry »
Got to post this. One because I love it, and two because I’ve not posted in way too long. Again.
Anyhoo… This is the video to “Castillo de Arena” by El Pescao, the pet project / sabbatical project of David Otero from El Canto Del Loco. (Album in September I believe).
It’s in my head in a big way and runs the risk of being the sound of my summer; which I must admit I’m okay with ;-)
Enjoy.
And if you like it then you can get the song on iTunes by clicking your mousey here….
Well it’s official – I’ve been utterly crap at updating this blog recently.
I do have the excuse that I’ve been on Twitter a bit, but nonetheless this place wasn’t supposed to get covered in cobwebs and tumbleweed.
There is another excuse, to be fair – Moving out of London…
I’m now pretty much settled down here in south Wales, not too far from where my mum came from (she’s from the Rhondda Valley – I’m just over the other side of the stunning Bwlch down in Bridgend) – and really enjoying a different lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s not only MotoGP’s main classes that are in action this weekend, following the volcano induced long break since the season opener at Qatar… I’m also kind of excited because Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup kicks off its 2010 season in Jerez this weekend as part of the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. With practice on Friday and a race both on Saturday May 1st and on Sunday May 2nd it is a crucial double header for all 25 of the sport’s fastest racing teenagers. Read the rest of this entry »
Lots of people slag off Twitter.
They’re idiots of course.
But they do.
And sometimes you can accept that there’s differing levels of usefulness, triviality and purposelessness to the phenomenon in an already crowded world of communications and technology.
Nonetheless, any MotoGP fan should find themselves very grateful that Twitter exists this coming weekend, when the world’s first genuinely virtual sporting event takes place on the service – a completely virtual MotoGP weekend played out in the absence of the *real* Japanese GP (which has been postponed until October due to the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano eruption).
It’s not a real race of course – but it’s definitely going to be a great exercise in fun and entertainment, and a genuinely sweet and fun way to lift everyone’s spirits.
Already attracting the notice and apparent cooperation of high profile MotoGP media figures, the event is spearheaded by a Twitterer/Tweeter called @twitgp – who is promising a weekend of full sessions, celebrities and typically MotoGP fun.
If you’re not already on Twitter, then you should be – so get signed up and get following (there are plenty of MotoGP riders and personalities already on there that you can follow) and search for and follow @twitgp – who you can also find on this URL: www.twitter.com/twitgp
You can also search for news about the event using the hashtag #twitgp
It sounds like a big load of fun: A great idea and a great cure for the blues that the race postponement has caused. So join up and join me in following this sporting and technological first!
In short, my name's Gareth and I'm the Director of VROOM MEDIA Ltd. I'm a designer, writer, musician and MotoGP nut. I'm a shameless fanboy for Alvaro Bautista & Apple. I go moist over Spanish band El Canto Del Loco, and I'm a total Mac geek. This blog is an ongoing journal of random notes, thoughts and bits of stuff...
...And things.
The latest recordings by my solo music project, The Rain Dogs. These are tracks I'm pulling together over a period of time - some old and some new - and just putting out online for sharing.
My 'formerly industrial' band with my mate Rob.
We grew out of wanting to be another NIN some time back and have developed into a far more interesting, singular, challenging and fun.
With Rob's emigration to the USA, our way of working and creating was fundamentally altered, but we continued to push the boundaries of possible musics as we always have.
Rob's return holds promise to pick things up some more - to develop more ideas, sketchpads, rhythms and approaches to keep us on the cutting edge - and maybe a refreshed approach which might even see us revisit and complete our unfinished masterpiece "BACKLASH".
Yeah, right...
Fifteen minutes into the future, a hot, dry summer in Hull: Coates, a researcher and investigator, is hired to trace the whereabouts of missing adolescent Dominic Russell.
Is he the latest in a number of gruesome blood-letting murders attributed to the city’s “Marginals” that exist somewhere in the underbelly of the population?
That’s what the Police say, but it’s not what the boy’s mother believes - and as Coates digs deeper into that underbelly he discovers that Dominic’s disappearance is just a tiny part of a much bigger story: one that will bring his world crashing down and endanger all those around him...
Rivercity is a book that can be read at many levels, weaving a main plot - a clear homage to the “noir” detective genre - with a vampire story and a myriad of strands about perception and reality, human nature, signs, superstitions, the histroy of Hull, aesthetics, the occult and political expediency. Above all it's a novel about philosophy and the nature of truth and knowledge in the electronic age.
This has been going on so long it no longer feels like news to me.
