Ben Aston | benaston.com

apple ipad, originally uploaded by benaston.

How’s that for an over-sized iPod Touch?

In all its glory, here is the Apple iPad, which does pretty much everything an iPod Touch will do, only it’s on a proper sized (24×19cm) screen – so it won’t fit in your pocket.

This is probably good news for all you manbag makers out there – there’s going to be a lot of people carrying these things around, who have never before needed a manbag. Now, armed with their iPad, and with repetitive strain injury after casually carrying it in their hand for the first two weeks, they’ll realise that a manbag is in order.

That is of course, unless we should really be likening the iPad to an oversized iPhone, seeing as it comes in a 3G version – but can you really imagine walking down the street (after you’ve lost/broken your headset) holding this to your ear? Nor me.

The thing that’s really missing from the iPad is the humble USB port. You’d be forgiven for just assuming it would be on there somewhere. But it’s not. It’s mad that a device that’s this expensive ($499) and steps on the toes of all the netbooks out there requires an additional adaptor to connect to upload pictures direct from a camera.

Apart from that though, yes please.

hanging out with josh radin, originally uploaded by benaston.

As any self respecting tourist would, on the day after Canada Day, today we took a trip on the wild side and made it all the way into Vancouver. It was indeed a wild time; for starters, my flip flop broke so I had to go all hippy and go bare foot; like a bear with no bearskin..

The hippyness didn’t end there though. After crepes, bellinis, honey lagers (not as good as Fullers) and more food, we stood in a line for a long time outside the Commodore Ballroom waiting for tickets for Joshua Radin and the uber hip Xavier Rudd.

It was good to see Josh again. In fact, as you can see, these days we’re practically best buds. It was all a bit rushed though, and with a half hour supporting slot, he didn’t have time to work his magic; the Commodore crowd was a bit of a let down – there wasn’t a whole lotta love and the old acoustic unplugged thing, along with a few of his new songs fell on its face a bit. Thankfully, a few classics, Closer, and Winter made it worth the trip to see him.

Then came Rudd. It has to be said that I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a whole Xavier Rudd song all the way through; they’re not exactly known for their brevity though, are they? It soon became apparent that the reason Josh wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea was because they were a bit too stoned and hippy for him.

Cue Rudd, the spliffs are unveiled across the room and an awesome world music come reggae rock cacaphony begins. He does some amazing things, combining didgeridoo, slide guitar, and drums to make what can really only be described as reggae music for white people. Of course with reggae comes dancing, and there was more than a healthy sprinkling of that. Not just any kind of white reggae dancing, but odly enough it seemed that it was all very much influenced by Kate Bush a la Wuthering Heights. Weird.

Let’s save the planet.

A delicious combo of pineapple, cranberries and a fruit and nut combo arrived at my desk this morning. The concept is great; you go to their pretty website, http://www.graze.com, choose the healthy things you like, and as if by magic, the snacks arrive on your desk the next morning for you to graze on throughout the day.

You get to choose how many deliveries you want during the week, but at £2.99 a box, they’re not exactly priced for a recession. The good thing is, if you go to the site and use this code, L3GLPMRE, you’ll get your first graze box for free.

Bargain grazing.

josh radin & maria taylor shepherds bush empire, originally uploaded by benaston.

He was awesome. Performing with his band a veritable selection of audible treats, Radin indulged us in some Scrubs classics such as Winter, and Closer combining it with new material from his new album Simple Times.

The pace of the gig was refreshing – unsurprising perhaps from an artist who consistently produces sub 3min songs, helping him get through a good chunk of the back catalogue. Joshua kept us entertained throughout 90 min set, serving the songs up with with a healthy helping of banter and endearing storytelling along the way. A lovely treat for a Thursday.

Bona fide.

The National Geographic charity appeal, originally uploaded by benaston.

Probably the best CRM I’ve received in a while – let’s take a closer look.

1. ‘Dear Member’ – A disappointing start. I’m not sure exactly what I’m a member of. I thought I was a subscriber. And I’d prefer to be known as Ben, especially when they’ve kindly put my name on the direct debit form.

2. ‘…a few short months’ – Wooah there. My subscription doesn’t run out not until August, that’s 6 months away. And what’s short about the months March to April?

3. ‘Renewing your membership today helps us keep your membership fee low by eliminating the expense of sending you additional renewal notices.’ – Hold on. So you’ll start charging me to send me renewal notices? NB – this is the 3rd I’ve received in as many months.

4.’Your cooperation…’ This must be the important bit. It’s in blue. Why am I being asked to cooperate? It was a magazine subscription, now it’s become a charity appeal. By buying it, I help reduce the cost for other people. Now what kind of strange logic is that?

5.’Compare the price…such lavish color photographs…five double-sided map supplements each year.’ The final paragraph is a final ditch attempt to re-iterate the rational value arguments while finally introducing some emotive rhetoric.

I think it was the lure of those lavish photographs that got me. And the maps. It’s all too much. Must resubscribe.

Maybe.

Cold War Modern – V&A, originally uploaded by benaston.

After a 3 week long buzz campaign about secret agents and the like, the 7th Syndikate, revealed all the fuss was about the new Cold War Modern Campaign at the V&A.

I have to confess I opted out of the flashmob rendez vous in bowler hats but the friendly chaps at the V&A offered me some tickets to the exhibition anyway.

The exhibition is all about the impact of the Cold War on art, design, architecture and film, which was more interesting than I thought. But then it was a museum, and I’m not really a museum type.

5/10.