WordPress and Blogger

I almost forgot to mention - if my Opera blog just won’t work for you at all, I reproduce exactly the same blog on both WordPress and Blogger. Why would I do that? Because I can. So there. I use Windows Live Writer to write up my posts, so it’s nice and easy to submit the same post to all three blogs. I’ve got to say I really like WordPress. I haven’t finished creating it totally, but it won’t take long. Blogger is reasonably cool as well - I’ve just used my own domain name for it - www.garydenness.co.uk, which hasn’t had a home in a while.

 

 

WordPress and Blogger

I almost forgot to mention - if my Opera blog just won’t work for you at all, I reproduce exactly the same blog on both WordPress and Blogger. Why would I do that? Because I can. So there. I use Windows Live Writer to write up my posts, so it’s nice and easy to submit the same post to all three blogs. I’ve got to say I really like WordPress. I haven’t finished creating it totally, but it won’t take long. Blogger is reasonably cool as well - I’ve just used my own domain name for it - www.garydenness.co.uk, which hasn’t had a home in a while.

 

 

Blog problems

I’ve had a formal written complaint about my blog! It doesn’t load very fast. In fact it loads very slow. I must confess it loads slow for me in Opera, although it works just fine in Flock and IE7. But I use Opera and so do a lot of my blog visitors, seeing as it is on the My.Opera network. So what to do? I have a feeling DivShare is mostly to blame. I host my images with them, and although I love the service generally, they do seem to be slow at getting images from my DivShare account to my Mexile blog. So adios DivShare, for now. Actually, they’ve put themselves up for sale which isn’t a good sign, so maybe this is a good time to move on.

Now I shall use Flickr to host my images. It’s just as convenient, should be a whole load quicker, and helps me get some value for money - I’ve recently paid for an extra two years subs! Hopefully, once the Flickr image posts are covering the whole of the front page, things will improve substantially. I’m also going to do a new blog design early in the new year, to slim down a few kilobytes and speed things up further.

Never been to my Flickr account? Here’s your chance! I have some pretty good photos over there even if I say so myself!

Blog problems

I’ve had a formal written complaint about my blog! It doesn’t load very fast. In fact it loads very slow. I must confess it loads slow for me in Opera, although it works just fine in Flock and IE7. But I use Opera and so do a lot of my blog visitors, seeing as it is on the My.Opera network. So what to do? I have a feeling DivShare is mostly to blame. I host my images with them, and although I love the service generally, they do seem to be slow at getting images from my DivShare account to my Mexile blog. So adios DivShare, for now. Actually, they’ve put themselves up for sale which isn’t a good sign, so maybe this is a good time to move on.

Now I shall use Flickr to host my images. It’s just as convenient, should be a whole load quicker, and helps me get some value for money - I’ve recently paid for an extra two years subs! Hopefully, once the Flickr image posts are covering the whole of the front page, things will improve substantially. I’m also going to do a new blog design early in the new year, to slim down a few kilobytes and speed things up further.

Never been to my Flickr account? Here’s your chance! I have some pretty good photos over there even if I say so myself!

Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Yesterday, December 12th, is perhaps the most important religious festival in the Mexican calendar. The Virgin of Guadalupe is part of Mexico’s identity, and if you should ever be lucky enough to visit Mexico, you’ll see that you can’t turn 360 degrees without seeing a reproduction of her somewhere. What is the Virgin of Guadalupe, exactly? It is a painting, with quite a story to it.

Whenever people are seriously ill, family members are likely to make a pilgramage to the Basilica de Guadalupe where the painting is displayed. But on December 12th, Mexico City’s already bulging population is swelled by countless millions more as pilgrims come from all over the country. You can see them in long lines all along the city’s streets as they head there. Quite a few will do the last few kilometres on their knees. The photo below is one I took of the actual painting when I went to the Basilica in the spring.

How did I celebrate? Well I had the day off so I went out to try a new restaurant. One of the cool things of Mexico City is that people will open up restaurants almost anywhere including in their front rooms. And you can get some seriously nice food from many of them, although you must exercise some caution - there are a few that wouldn’t pass a Health Inspectors test in an Indian side street. We found a very nice one though, serving Yucatan food in a beautifully decorated dinner room and patio. You’d never believe there was anything worthwhile visiting from the entrance - ust a weed covered path going up an alley. I love Cochinita and Lemon Soup, but it’s not always easy to find a place selling good stuff. We’ve long been visiting a restaurant miles and miles away, so it’s nice to havea new place to go that’s just round the corner.

Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Yesterday, December 12th, is perhaps the most important religious festival in the Mexican calendar. The Virgin of Guadalupe is part of Mexico’s identity, and if you should ever be lucky enough to visit Mexico, you’ll see that you can’t turn 360 degrees without seeing a reproduction of her somewhere. What is the Virgin of Guadalupe, exactly? It is a painting, with quite a story to it.

Whenever people are seriously ill, family members are likely to make a pilgramage to the Basilica de Guadalupe where the painting is displayed. But on December 12th, Mexico City’s already bulging population is swelled by countless millions more as pilgrims come from all over the country. You can see them in long lines all along the city’s streets as they head there. Quite a few will do the last few kilometres on their knees. The photo below is one I took of the actual painting when I went to the Basilica in the spring. How did I celebrate? Well I had the day off so I went out to try a new restaurant. One of the cool things of Mexico City is that people will open up restaurants almost anywhere including in their front rooms. And you can get some seriously nice food from many of them, although you must exercise some caution - there are a few that wouldn’t pass a Health Inspectors test in an Indian side street. We found a very nice one though, serving Yucatan food in a beautifully decorated dinner room and patio. You’d never believe there was anything worthwhile visiting from the entrance - ust a weed covered path going up an alley. I love Cochinita and Lemon Soup, but it’s not always easy to find a place selling good stuff. We’ve long been visiting a restaurant miles and miles away, so it’s nice to havea new place to go that’s just round the corner.

K-Paz and the Drug Gangs

Musicians have gotten themselves murdered before in Mexico for involvement in some way or another in the drug trade. Journalists too, for more obvious reasons. Only Iraq is a more dangerous country to report from than Mexico. Unfortunately. But in the last few weeks there’s been a new twist to some of the narco murders. The cartels have for a long time now been posting videos onto YouTube, showing them torturing and killing rivals, usually with a funky theme tune. Most cartels have favourite musicians and bands - who doesn’t? It has gotten dangerous to be a cartels favourite these days though. It seems that the three latest murders of musicians may have simply been because they were liked by a rival gang. The biggest star to be killed has been Sergio Gomez of K-Paz de la Sierra, who was kidnapped after a concert, tortured and then strangled to death. Not a terribly nice way to go…

K-Paz and the Drug Gangs

Musicians have gotten themselves murdered before in Mexico for involvement in some way or another in the drug trade. Journalists too, for more obvious reasons. Only Iraq is a more dangerous country to report from than Mexico. Unfortunately. But in the last few weeks there’s been a new twist to some of the narco murders. The cartels have for a long time now been posting videos onto YouTube, showing them torturing and killing rivals, usually with a funky theme tune. Most cartels have favourite musicians and bands - who doesn’t? It has gotten dangerous to be a cartels favourite these days though. It seems that the three latest murders of musicians may have simply been because they were liked by a rival gang. The biggest star to be killed has been Sergio Gomez of K-Paz de la Sierra, who was kidnapped after a concert, tortured and then strangled to death. Not a terribly nice way to go…