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Kids shows were better in the old days.

Our good dog Bluey died today, aged sixteen years. He was a gentle, good natured dog with a deep interest in black socks.

Like most dogs he also loved to eat, although when his sister was around he would only get what she allowed him. His most favourite food of all, however, was whatever you happened to be eating at the time. I have strong memories of Bluey sitting at my feet, watching every mouthful of toast or chips or whatever, fully believing that this time I wasn’t going to give him any. Of course I always did. This is important, I think. A boy needs a dog to share his crusts with.

He lived a long and happy life but I suppose he missed his sister.

I’ll miss you, Blue.

I always thought Alistair Darling looked like a Thunderbird, but today realised who those eyebrows really reminded me of: Sam the Eagle from the Muppets.

Paul Graham has written an interesting essay on great cities and the messages they give out and why it is that a city should have such an effect on a person and their ambitions.

No matter how determined you are, it’s hard not to be influenced by the people around you. It’s not so much that you do whatever a city expects of you, but that you get discouraged when no one around you cares about the same things you do.

I’ve seen a few cities now and each one has its own distinct soul that can’t help but subtly affect you when surrounded by it. Apparently the message Paul gets from London is: “one should be more aristocratic”. I’m not sure I agree with him. Then again, thinking back to when I first arrived here, maybe I did notice a more class-based society.

Maybe I’ve just tuned that message out as background noise.

I just received a notification that my first Kiva loan has been repaid! Kiva is a micro-lending website where you can make loans directly to entrepreneurs in the developing world. You can see who I am lending to on my Lender Page.

It’s a great way to help people improve life for themselves and it gives you a real connection with the people you lend to in interesting places around the world. So far I have made micro-loans to people in Kenya, Tajikistan, Peru and Cambodia.