Siany’s Neighborhood

Packing Up

... to a new online home.

From now on you can find me here: www.janeclairebradley.com.

Please update your RSS subscriptions, blogrolls, bookmarks and any other means which might bring you here.

I'll be moving some posts across to my new site, but for the most part this is where mine and Vox's paths part.

I'll be closing this blog in early 2010, so please swing by my new place when you can. I've tarted it up and I'll even put out a spread....

(Clumsy suitcase metaphor courtesy of malias' Flickr photostream)

Cafe de flore

My dream Parisian weekend wouldn’t involve the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre or the Moulin Rouge, or spending all my worldly riches on delicious make-up and perfumes in Sephora. (But only because I did far too much of that last time).

Instead, I’d retrace the steps of the characters from one of my favourite films, Bernado Bertolucci’s The Dreamers. I’ve been fascinated by the May ’68 riots ever since I researched the Situationist graffiti from that time as part of my dissertation. The juxtaposition of such romantic, idealistic ideas with the violence, vandalism and injustice that the riots involved intrigued me no end. If I went back to Paris I’d love to learn more about the backdrop of the riots, and visit the relocated Cinémathèque Française archive. And then visit the old site of the archive, where Isabelle pretended to chain herself to the gates when the cinema closed during the Henri Langlois affair.

Then, whilst in the mood for mirroring famous cinematic scenes, I’d go to the Café des Deux Moulins, where Amelie was filmed, for hot chocolate and crème brulée. Then, dizzy with sugar and excitement, I’d get the Metro to Denfert-Rochereau and go back to the Cartier Foundation. Last time I went to Paris, I saw an amazing exhibition of Patti Smith’s photography and writing, and I’ve read fantastic reviews of the graffiti exhibition they have on at the moment.

Then from there it wouldn’t be too far for an adventure into the Catacombs. I’d read so much about them that I was so disappointed to learn last time I went to Paris that the catacombs were closed. I’ve not been back since then, so although it might seem ghoulish, I’d love to see them next time I’m there.

Continuing in a similar ghoulish vein, from the Catacombs I’d scamper back down past the Cartier Foundation to the Montparnasse cemetery, to see the graves of Serge Gainsbourg and Satre and de Beauvoir. From there, it isn’t far to the Tour Montparnasse, for a beautiful view across all of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower.

Then, whilst I’m still channelling Satre and de Beauvoir, it’d be back into St Germain and to Café de Flore, one of their favourite haunts, for a cocktail or two. Then I’d go to the Palais de Tokyo and play in the black-and-white photobooth. As long as the weather wasn’t too cold and dismal, I’d sit outside afterwards on the giant concrete steps, slurping milkshake and admiring my photostrip souvenirs.

After that, a quick dash to one of the most romantic and wonderful places in Paris that I’ve ever been, the Shakespeare and Company bookshop next to the river. I’d snoop about, rifle through the shelves for some reading material for the train journey home, then reluctantly leave once they’ve had enough of my loitering for hours on end.

(Image from DarkB4Dawn's Flickr photostream)

Carl from TwoBob

Whenever I tell anyone that I live in south east London, the response is always the same: a sharp intake of breath and a grimace followed by a sympathetic enquiry as whether I’ve ever been stabbed, mugged or murdered.

Once I reassure the listener that any injuries I’ve sustained in the vicinity were all as a result of my own bumbling clumsiness, their next question is bewildered wonderment at how I spend my evenings and weekends in what they assume to be a barren wasteland. And although I usually bristle at these preconceptions, the sad truth is that they’re not entirely untrue. But whilst Lewisham might not be renowned for its cultural diversity or hedonistic nightlife scene, there is one events promoter determined to make a difference.

 

So, you know how I always blather on and on about how much I love my local boozer? Well, continuing in that vein, I recently interviewed Carl, lord and master of TwoBob events, for The London Word. You can read the rest of the interview here, in which Carl explains all about how it shouldn’t be too tall an order for the South East London masses to see their favourite unsigned bands somewhere nearby. They shouldn’t have to trek all the way to Kentish Town and pay a hideous amount to slurp revoltingly overpriced lager and be jostled by skinny-jeaned fuckwits who over the course of the evening become drooling simpletons from taking too much ketamine. All whilst stressing about the epic quest home if the bands over-run, making them miss the last midnight train southwards from London Bridge. Thus not even enjoying the evening that they’ve paid through the nose for in the first place. Bah and indeed humbug (not that I’m bitter about the number of nights like this I’ve had, honest), but at least with Carl around, Lewisham shall have more than just ambulance and police sirens to soundtrack its drizzly autumnal evenings. Thank God.

First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!

The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.

TypePad Micro

7 comments

A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.

Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.

On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.

And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!

~ daisy

As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.

The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.

When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.

It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.

Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.

As always, thanks for your patience.

~daisy

So, I've been using my Typepad account instead of VOX, and whenever I come back over this way I have shit loads of spam comments to delete. Surely, VOX, if you delete a spam account, it should automatically delete all of the spam comments they've left as well?

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.

We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.

I will keep you posted.

Thank you for being so patient.

~daisy

Blog Action Day

11 comments

Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.

This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!

Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.

Can't wait to read your posts!

~ daisy