Journal

Scott proposes an interview question relating to web standards and intelligent use of JavaScript.

How would you attempt to build Wordle (...or some other complex app) if you could only use HTML and CSS? Which features of that app would make more sense to build with JavaScript than with other technologies? And, can you imagine a change or addition to the HTML or CSS standard that could make any of those features more straight-forward to build?

Discussing any approaches to this challenge will reveal the candidate's broad knowledge of web standards–including new and emerging HTML and CSS features–and as a huge benefit, it would help select for the type of folks who are best suited to lead us out of the JavaScript over-reliance problems that are holding back the web today.

I hate interviews (and the mere thought of interviews), but I could handle being asked a question like this.

Well that was a fun weekend!

First up on Saturday was lunch with my niece Chloe at Gusto and Relish (we thought it might be nice for her to visit the southside). We had a good blether about her wee boy Leo, her future plans and more while enjoying some tasty sandwiches and coffee. After that Chloe visited our flat which provided a chance for her to chat with Clair and meet Rudy.

Later that night was an event Clair and I had planned for a while – our Traitors night with friends! We assembled at Church on the Hill where Clair took on the role of host Claudia while I, Marty and Jenny, Simon, Gillian, Tom and Nessa, Mark, Martin and Izzie, Dan and Sarah were the participants.

We all chucked a tenner into the pot as an incentive to spice it up, then Clair set about blindfolding us and tapping the shoulders of those she’d picked as traitors. I was a faithful but ended up being voted out first! Cracking one too many jokes in the WhatsApp beforehand was my downfall, I think. That aside it all went really well and we didn’t even get launched by the unsuspecting bar staff for our theatrics. The winners also donated the cash to charity which was a really nice touch.

Competition aside, it was just lovely to catch up with people. In particular I hadn’t seen Dan and Sarah for ages. I enjoyed hearing about their recent visit to Cork (I now fancy visiting too) and also Sarah’s positive ideas about how Glasgow city centre can rise again.

We knocked it on the head at a good hour and resisted the urge for a nightcap – a sign of the mature adults we have all become (or something like that).

Just had a memorable midweek night at the cinema with Craig and Jason.

Opus presents Ryuichi Sakamato at the piano in the final year of his life. It consists of him playing twenty pieces one after the other and is beautifully shot in black and white by his son, Neo Sora.

I found the film’s style and starkness to be quite unusual at first, but once I got into its rhythm it was very immersive. The music and playing were at times just mesmerising and given the circumstances it was quite moving.

It was great to unexpectedly bump into Liam, too. I might have known this film would be up his strasse!

An amazing time was had by all yesterday as Gillian, Clair and I, Tom and Nessa had lunch at Cail Bruich on Great Western Road. Annoyingly on arrival I had a slightly dodgy stomach so went with a non-alcoholic cocktail to start. Fortunately I didn’t need too long to get up to speed, as by the starter I was happily eating raw fish.

As usual the food was fantastic. Among a range of delights we had langoustine, monkfish and that killer mushroom dish. The wines were pretty special too, although the accompanying origin stories are getting pretty long.

In our excitement Clair and I invited everyone back to ours. There, Nessa gave us a great laugh telling us about seeing her current favourite band Tool umpteen times, and we all shared our musical guilty pleasures – Seal’s Kiss from a Rose from Tom C was an unexpected and memorable inclusion! Mark M was at a loose end and joined us, bringing Jura to give Rudy a playmate, and the merriment went on into the wee hours. Ach well, I’ve been pretty good most of the year so I’m allowing myself this blow-out without the need for a post-mortem!

My nephew Daniel and his girlfriend Helena moved into their new home toward the end of last year. I was overdue a visit and rectified that today.

It was great to see them both and get the tour of their lovely home including back garden! I had to chuckle at the fairly intense metal music on quietly in the background. I don’t think they do laidback sounds – fair play to them!

Now I think about it, their music taste might provide an insight into why they named their dog Satan. And it was great to meet the wee guy! He’s a Kingpin – a miniature Pinscher and King Charles spaniel mix – who’s very affectionate and I was instantly smitten. They’re currently doing some of the same training we’ve done with Rudy to keep him a bit calmer.

I also picked up the (casually dropped-in) news that they are engaged, which is lovely to hear. They’re such a great couple.

I was treated to a lovely bacon roll and cup of tea so needless to say, I’ll be back. But maybe I should invite them to our place next time.

It’s been great to have a change of scenery, a wee bit of sun and some downtime.

I caught up on some listening: Cillian Murphy on Desert Island Discs, Jon Ronson’s Things Fall Apart, Adam Buxton interviewing George Monbiot (I’ve since resolved to buy Monbiot’s book Regenesis) and some excellent Gilles Petersen shows, firstly in interview with Michael Franks and secondly an amazing feature on J Dilla with Pete from BBE. The latter includes a lovely old mixtape from Dilla. I love how he just roughly chopped in the main hooks of tunes in a way that’s low on polish and high on fun.

Also on the headphones were The Smile – both their 6 Music Artists in residence sessions and their new album Wall of Eyes which is great.

My book of choice during the trip was The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey.

As always, every day I took a long walk along the Paseo Maritimo (the promenade that looks right onto the sea, Gibraltar and Morocco in the distance). With its scenery and mix of walkers, cyclists, dogs and restaurants this walk always makes me feel relaxed and happy. A couple of the days I took a detour to Buena Vida for a tasty breakfast wrap and coffee. There’s a Scottish guy working there – he’s from Shetland if memory serves me rightly.

After my daily walk I enjoyed chilling on the balcony and occasionally even snuck in a wee afternoon glass of vino while listening to some music. Ain’t gonna lie – that is a nice way to relax on your holiday.

When hanging out in the apartment on my own at night I watched The Creator which was fun, a bit of Curb your enthusiasm (final season) and some Shogun.

Food-wise, when on my own I kept it simple with dinners at Venta las Pacos – they do stuff like Supa de Mariano and pepper steak with chips. It’s cheap as chips and full of locals arriving post-work. Cibo is also decent, the Hamberguesa Casera at Asador Nagüeles is banging and there’s a wee joint (name escapes me) near the harbour where I had a cheap but perfect morning coffee and croissant and could just enjoy watching people pass by going about their business.

Once Mark arrived we took a walk into the old town and, during a downpour, decided to try Restaurante El Cortijo. They make it clear from their signage outside that they serve authentic Andalusian food and “no tapas, pizza or pasta!!!”. And it was great. We had monkfish clams with prawns in an almond (almost curry-like) sauce – the owner’s great grandma’s recipe, washed down with beautiful Tempranillo wine. With the weater atrocious we decided to also treat ourselves to dessert: Home made apple cake, and crème brûlée. I’ll be back!

Clair was next to arrive. The three of us paid a visit to the Trocadero for late lunch. We had delicious clams, chicken salad and even curry, with a glass of Marques de Riscal Verdejo which definitely hit the spot. It’s a great place.

On the Sunday three of us visited Kala Kuala Chiringuito in San Pedro for another seafood special – more clams, this time with paella. It was then the long-ish walk home along the Paseo Maratimo where we were merry enough to belt out a Pet Shop Boys medley, taking especial pleasure in saying “Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat” in the style of Neil Tennant. We stopped in at Victors beach bar where DJ Luis was playing Kerri Chandler (I could recognise those beats from half a mile off!) and we got talking to him and his Londoner friend (another Laurence). That was a great wee vibe. To finish the night we played pool at That’s Life and did Scotland proud by emerging victorious over our Spanish rivals.

After Mark had left, Clair wanted to scratch her itch for Chinese food and we had a lovely meal at Hong Kong restaurant.

Last thing to mention is that I am gradually learning more Spanish. I’m gonna keep going and see how far I can get. Vamos!

Clair and I just had paid a visit to a relatively new local eatery, The Old Fruit Shop. And it lived up to expectations. Given the date (it’s St Patrick’s Day tomorrow) they were offering The Irishman as a breakfast special so I plumped for that and it was delicious – especially the black pudding. They also do a nice line in coffees (their house coffee is Thomson’s TEAM) and cakes. With bridies, pies and lots of lovely wines and spirits on display too there’s definitely more to explore – maybe in the evening next time. I also loved the location near Linn Park at Snuffmill Bridge, the cosy interior and the friendly service. I’ll be back!

This was an interesting read, recommended by some experienced players at my table tennis club. (The book focuses on tennis but most of it is transferable). This tip came at a good time, as I’m looking to reduce tension from my game.

The author presents the following ideas:

You have two selves. Self 1 is your ego. Self 2 is your body and unconscious brain/memory.

Tension with negative impact comes from trying and overthinking – characteristics of Self 1. Let’s avoid this.

Self 2 is amazing. Let it do its thing without ego interference. Don’t “try hard”.

Observe what’s happening during a game without attributing good or bad, criticism or praise.

Learn to concentrate and still the mind. One method is to focus on the ball, both visually and on sonic rhythm. In between points when those aren’t available, just notice your breathing (without trying to breath differently).

During training or before matches, program self 2. This involves visualising (without verbal instructing) a stroke as I want to play it, then let it happen.

When programming Self 2 you can program for:

• results: (visualise the ball arcing over net and onto other side); or
• form: shadow the stroke inc proper start and finish position. Pause and store the visual. Shut eyes and imagine the visual. Do it again and notice how it feels. Then play but don’t “ask” Self 2 to do it, let it happen. Or
• identity: in training pretend I’m an actor playing the role of, say, Timo Boll. Don’t worry about the ball going out. Just play like them and go for it.

Without ego interference, Self 2 will automatically correct things so that the results match the programming.

It occurred to that I could try this programming for some of the harder techniques such as the reverse pendulum serve.

The writing style of this book felt a bit dated (it was written in the seventies so it’s perhaps understandable). However the ideas are really interesting and I’ve been trying things out in training, with some success so far.

Here are a bunch of great tips and resources for creating charts and graphs, condensed into a 6-minute read.

It’d be interesting to look at the key recommendations in this article and compare our web-based charts at work against them.

My thanks to Vitaly and the Smashing team for this roundup.

This retelling of an incredible story featuring unbelievable examples of human skill, endurance and hope is the best TV programme I’ve watched in years.

Chronicling the story that transfixed the world in 2018 – the daring rescue of 12 boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand. This film shines a light on the high-risk world of cave diving, the astounding courage and compassion of the rescuers and the shared humanity of an international community that united to save the boys.