Category: learning curve

Boat Race

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No. Not that one (although it does get a mention).

I’m talking about the annual boat race between the football clubs of Sevilla and Real Betis.

No, I hadn’t heard of it either. But, thankfully, The Tim Traveller is there – once again – to help us out with a short, but entertaining and educational video:

Lovely stuff, as always.

But his video (as her reveals at the end) was shot last year, while this year’s race took place this last weekend.

And with Betis on a 14 year winning streak… it was time for Sevilla to make a comeback. So did they?

HIGHLIGHT HERE…

Yes, they did.

…TO HERE TO FIND OUT.

Early night

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Lady night was unpretty.

And so in an effort to make tonight a little prettier, I’m going to make the process start a whole lot earlier.

Night night.

(It’s 6:47pm.)

Boring Fund

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OK, so this one is only for UK readers, but I do like the idea, and I’m sure if something similar were set up here in SA, it would be massively oversubscribed hugely popular.

And yes, I was drawn in by the bright colours and the beagle.

It’s a sidearm of Christina Poulton’s business, and it’s there to help out organisations like charities, community groups and voluntary projects.
And Boring only because it’s not there to fund sensational stuff and cutting-edge projects.
Quite the opposite, in fact

The grant is to spend the money on something boring and behind-the-scenes, that would otherwise be more difficult to fund e.g. insurance, accountancy, admin time, web hosting, training, office costs etc. Essential but unsexy costs. The grants are not for project delivery or anything too exciting.

Those everyday expenses that can really hold back a small enterprise: essential costs, but which are never really built in to any one project or programme.

What a great idea.

If you want to apply for a Boring Fund grant of up to £200, you have until the end of the month to apply. The rules are pretty strict, but that’s simply to ensure that only worthy organisations get a chance to be funded. It makes sense.

If you are part of an eligible organisation, or you know someone who is, this might really help out.

Why not give it a try?

UPDATED! How to listen to BBC 6Music (and all the other BBC radio stations) if you are outside the UK

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I wrote a post on how to do this back in July. But things have changed.

First off: Yes, you can still listen live to 6Music with no issues and no restrictions here.
For other BBC radio stations, see here (scroll down for the list of links).

But if you want to use the BBC Sounds app, then a simple VPN connection will no longer suffice. And so here is a new post with a better method of doing things.

To rewind, listen back or use any of the other benefits that overseas users used to have, then you will have to open the BBC Sounds app, at which point you will be faced with the dreaded “The BBC Sounds app is closed for users outside the UK” screen.

Which is why you are here.

Thankfully, there’s a four stage process to get around this.

1. First, you’ll need an email address registered in the UK: one with a .co.uk suffix. If you don’t have one of those, you can get one free at mail.co.uk (you’ll need a UK cellphone number to register your account) or GMX mail (no UK cellphone number required).

2. Once you’re set up there (it’s a 5 minute process), use your new .co.uk email address to set a BBC Account registered in the UK here. You’ll need to enter a UK postcode to complete your registration. If you don’t have one of those, you could generate one here.

3. Thirdly, you will need a VPN, set to the UK. I use Nord and it works very well. If you also want to use Nord (because it works very well), please consider using my affiliate code to get a few extra months free for both of us.

4. Finally, go to the BBC Sounds app on your phone and CLEAR ALL DATA – DO NOT DELETE THE APP!

Set your VPN to the UK, open the BBC Sounds app, login with your new UK-based account and it’s like the good times never went away.

Remember to refresh your UK VPN server occasionally, and if you are using split tunnelling (if you don’t know what this is, you’re not using it) also make sure that the BBC Sounds app is not on your VPN app’s excluded list.

The fine print: I take no responsibility for anything, as ever. I’m merely documenting a process which allows me to use the BBC Sounds app. This method works for me, and I don’t feel too bad about using it as (really weirdly) my non-UK based smart speaker still allows me to do all the BBC Sounds things without any account changes, VPNs or postcodes. No. I have no idea why either.

Happy listening, Music Lover.

A FURTHER UPDATE!

If you find yourself suddenly staring at the dreaded “The BBC Sounds app is closed for users outside the UK” screen out of the blue, then close the app, clear all data, log back in with your .co.uk email address (while using a UK-based VPN location), and all will be right once again.

Internet ads

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Love them or hate them (and honestly you’re a bit of a weirdo if you’re in the former camp), they’re part of our everyday browsing and doomscrolling experience. And I get the gist how they work: looking at your behaviour online, and then targeting ads to best lever a little more money out of you for the things that you know, love and need.

Except… they don’t always quite hit the mark, do they?

No.

I promise you that I have not looked up, discussed or in any way browsed anything to do with condoms in the last twenty-plus years. But still, I got a condom ad this weekend. But it wasn’t actually the condom bit that really confused me. It was the combination of products that I was being offered.

Because for me (and each to their own here), nothing completes a night of passion avec perles et nervures (oh la la!) than a bit of time spent poisoning rodents. And it’s even better when your presevatifs and pellets are 55% off.

Talk about killing the mice mood.

Take this flight ad. Decent prices, sure. We usually put the R in front of the number, but whatever.
But wait a second…

Newcastle-upon-Tyne (a bit random) 3½ times the price of a flight to London? I reckon I could pop on a Kevlar vest and get the train from Heathrow to Tyneside for less than that R6150.

Just.

But beagle-eyed readers will have spotted an additional issue here. Yes, the flight to Cape Town (one way, subject to availability, change and search dates). R589 does seem quite cheap until you realise that you’re already in Cape Town. Turn up to the check-in desk, present your ticket to the agent and prepare to be looked at a bit funny.

“Er… Sir. You’re here.”
“I know. What a bargain, right? Got it on an internet ad.”

And then you look at the price for Joburg and you do some rudimentary calculations and you work out that maybe the internet thinks you’re in Bloemfontein or Kimberley.

Why would anyone be there?

And even if they were, it still doesn’t explain the condoms and rat poison thing, does it?

Finally (for this post, at least) there’s this:

What a selection.

Selected for me, though?

“Tempting Whisper” Body Wash – no.
Brown Onion Soup – no.
Coffee pods – ok, yes.
Deep Heat Spray – only on Wednesdays.
Cesar 100g – pretty sure that’s not actually a lamb.
Cat Food Sticks – absolutely not.

The thing is, they’re wasting their money with all this misaimed stuff, and that means that the prices for the things that I do want to buy from them (from all the ads above, it’s honestly only the coffee) are just that little bit more expensive.

It does make for a good blog post every now and again though, I guess.