James Avery’s blog

October 3, 2009

Hopefully this tells you what I’m on about

Please excuse the messy theme whilst I’m upgrading the blog, but I hope that the ‘map’ above provides a better overview of my key interests than any set of text links ever can.

I’ve set out some of the key topics I expect to blog about here on the left - I supposed I should add cycling and general transport together with trains, and social networking could also be expanded to include affiliate (online) marketing, although my interest here is more as a passive way to earn extra revenue, rather than an end in itself. Having said that, I’m always available for consulting if the price is right!

For the past 7 years, I’ve been working on Flightmapping.com, which is driven by affiliate marketing revenue, but which is also managed by my brother Mark and colleague Dan, who is the best person to contact about anything affiliate related on there.

So everything else here is starting off with a clean slate - lots of new projects on the go, but I hope this diagram shows how they are linked all together. The dotted line leads to new websites which are currently in the pipeline. Oh, and how did I forget a tag for music? I guess that’s because I just like to regurgitate other people’s lines, rather than create the stuff. One day, I’ll go out and get that drumkit!

 

You need to find out
‘Cos no one’s gonna tell you what I’m on about
You need to find a way for what you want to say
But before tomorrow - Oasis, Supersonic.

September 7, 2009

Can you like any music if you listen long enough?

Filed under: Making Money Online, Music — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:36 pm

Something I’ve been wondering about for a while - what makes people get into music, and how easy is it to appreciate new bands and genres?

My music tastes are centred on a certain city up north, so I’m seeing how quickly I can get into Elbow, who’s only song I’ve really known before is the absolutely outstanding ‘One Day Like This’ from the album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’. On Thursday, I was playing around with the iphone in the Glasgow Apple store (I’ve already got an Ipod, which I just wanted to charge for the train journey home, and I’m happy with my mobile, so an iphone isn’t really on my shopping list). The 30 second listen function gave me a quick overview of what Elbow were about, and as they are already in the genre I’m used to, I was liking what I heard.

But how quickly do people get into bands generally? And what’s the biggest driving factor? I’ve always enjoyed live shows, so as Elbow are playing the MEN in Manchester in a couple of weeks’ time, I’m going to start doing some ‘revision’. HMV wanted £12 for two of their other albums, but Amazon.co.uk has ‘em for under a fiver, so I’ve decided to sign back up to their affiliate programme.

If you fancy giving these guys try, click on the Elbow link below:

July 10, 2009

An Awesome Wave of Coolness - Just How Good are Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones

I’ve just got back from London, and was cursing myself at the stupidity of making a second trip to the big smoke and back without having a working portable entertainment solution with me.

With the chaos that the house is in, it has taken some time to piece together all the bits that make up this highly complex but awesomely dynamic set of headphones:

Charger + Battery + Ipod + lead + Headphone Unit = Total blitz of sound!

I know they don’t come cheap, but I can’t recommend them strongly enough for any serious traveller.

Well, ipod has shifted from A-ha’s bond theme Living Daylights to Take On Me, which is then followed by Train of Thought. I think that says it all (I’ll say it anyway). Now what was it Alan Partridge said about bouncing back - Aha! Did motivation guru Stephen Covey (as in 7 habits book) then nick his trademark?

November 4, 2008

Pride in the Name of Love - from Milton Keynes Glowny to Atlanta Heartsfield

Filed under: Music, Politics, Trains, Transport — admin @ 2:46 pm

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good rant, but somehow I’ve managed to keep most of my opinions about the 2008 US election to myself.

Now that we’ve finally reached polling day, I am happy to say that even though I consider myself Conservative by UK standards, I am solidly behind Barack Obama tonight. So what’s Milton Keynes got to do with it? Well, MK is a city I go through regularly on the train, and if we put the jokes about concrete cows to one side, it is actually quite likeable.

If Milton Keynes had an airport, its IATA code might easily be MLK*, which would take us to civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, who is perhaps best known for his “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963. Whatever your opinions on Milton Keynes, somebody had a dream to build it, and if you ever get a chance to fly over it, MK does look like a giant circuit board, complete with tiny cars efficiently moving around its quiet streets.

MLK is featured twice on the U2 album “The Unforgettable Fire”, firstly in the anthemic Pride (In The Name of Love), and then on the final self titled track.

Here’s my favourite bit of Pride^:

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

So, I’m not going to be staying up to watch the polls (Glowny means Central in Polish), but I do hope to wake up tomorrow to some long awaited good news from across the pond!

(*MLK is actually the IATA code for Malta, Montana; ^ - actually took place at 6.01pm)

May 23, 2008

Roger Waters - Dark Side of The Dome

Filed under: Music, Uncategorized — admin @ 2:13 pm

Having seen Roger Waters in Hyde Park in 2006, and again at Earls Court last year, I had particularly High Hopes for this show, even if the set list would be virtually identical to these two performances.

I saw two concerts at the newly opened 02 Arena (former millennium Dome) last year, but there was always going is something special about seeing Roger Waters playing “Time” in a venue that is effectively at the centre of time, being so close to the Greenwich Meridian.  If you’ve ever flown over The Dome (the view from London City airport is particularly good), you will know that it is supported by 12 pylons, effectively turning it into a giant clock face with a little bit of imagination. 

Does all this matter, considering that the O2 arena is buried firmly inside The Dome?  Maybe it wouldn’t for Take That, but Pink Floyd’s work has always been full of grandiose symbolism, so seeing Dark Side of the Moon played inside such a big white tent was always going to be an epic performance.  As with many previous Pink Floyd shows, Waters’ stage was designed by Mark Fisher, who has also created stage sets for The Rolling Stones and the U2 amongst many others.

The set list, and set pieces (my personal favourites were “Perfect Sense”, “Time”, “Money” and “Comfortably Numb”) might have changed little in the last two years, but inside the O2, everything just sounded that much crisper, and felt that much more impressive.  Dan [Fell, Flightmapping colleague] managed to catch Comfortably Numb on his camera, and he has put this on You Tube - the sound is amazing, considering that his camera is no bigger than a cigarette packet.

Dan reckoned he had just witnessed the best show he had ever been to, whereas the Scouser standing behind me promise that he would take this memory to his grave.  I’ll just settle with saying that I was completely blown away by this performance — maybe not the great Gig in the Sky, but certainly the combination of Waters and the riverside dome made Perfect Sense, even if this post doesn’t.

Set One 
 
In the Flesh
Mother
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts II - V) (abridged)
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Southampton Dock
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Perfect Sense (Parts I - II)
Leaving Beirut
Sheep

Set Two (The Dark Side of the Moon)

Speak to Me / Breathe
On the Run
Time / Breathe (Reprise)
The Great Gig in the Sky
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse

Encore

The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb

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