Holiday

Well, I did it. Before Christmas I took myself up to the travel shop and spent a while with a nice young lady. A couple of weeks later I went back and spoke to another nice young lady. They clicked their mouse buttons and we talked and looked at options. Eventually I decided on a surprise family holiday destination. I was going to keep it a secret until the day of departure but I’m not good at keeping surprises. My family are even worse. They just don’t like not to be informed about what’s going on. I could have kept the whole thing secret of course and not said anything. But I was absent for several hours and would have had to make up white lies and remember what I’d said, so keeping secrets from the family is a difficult task. After they knew I’d booked a holiday the questions came and kept coming, so I decided that I would let them know on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve I prepared a slide presentation on my netbook. On Christmas Day, just before leaving to visit the family I plugged my netbook into the big television and gave them the presentation. They seemed to be pleased with my choice. Thank God!

I haven’t spent this much on a holiday since our honeymoon. And I certainly haven’t booked one so far in advance of the time before either – I know this time of year is quite traditional for buying holidays but I really don’t usually indulge in holiday booking until at least March. However, I hope this holiday will be great. It’s in Spain near to Barcelona but not actually there, so I’m hoping for hot weather, lovely beaches and lots of good lounging around, playing in the water and general relaxation with my family. My son was a bit worried about flying but he seems okay about it now, I can sympathise with a certain anxiety over flying myself but mainly at take off and landing times. I do think about disaster movies when flying though.

Hope everyone has a great New Year celebration tonight, my best wishes for the New Year to all of you.

The Status Quo

It feels like this year has gone by and nothing has really changed on the surface and then again under the surface change has been happening. My daughter is 11 years old in six months and I’ve certainly noticed her becoming more of a young person. My son is 8 and he is becoming more mature in his thinking and is getting physically stronger.

When I talk about the status quo I am really referring to the fact that I haven’t changed jobs and we haven’t moved home. The change of home is becoming ever more an urgent requirement and I’d really like to progress that this year, even if nothing happens to my job. I said pretty much the same in the autumn of 2009. That’s quite depressing in of itself.

I have a feeling, nothing more than that yet, that something is about to change for me on the work front but I can’t quite put my finger on what will happen. I don’t feel able to be proactive on that front though, which is worrying me inordinately.

I hope a house move will help to shift me from this depressed feeling. I’m not clinically depressed yet, I don’t think, but I do feel like I am on a gentle slope down and not sure how resilient I would be if I got a few knocks. I think this feeling is probably what a lot of other parents feel who have been married for 10 years and have children who are getting older: in other words, I think it’s the Middle Age Malaise. Admitting I’m middle age is bad enough but the fact that it doesn’t feel wrong or out of place as a description of me is even worse. Definitely need to feel differently about this age thing…

Creativity

I don’t spend any time on creative writing. It’s a real shame because I enjoy it and I’d like to do more of it. I tend to use my family and work responsibilities as my excuse however, there is time in the day to do creative writing but I choose to spend it on other things like playing videogames or web browsing. So, I think my first New Year resolution is to begin a campaign of weaning myself away from other stuff in order to devote more time simply to writing.

Christmas 2010

This Christmas the temperature was really down and the snow that had fallen in the previous week was still around with no sign of thawing. My annual leave began on the 23rd. I had a cold before the start of the holidays and it hasn’t gone away, even now. The snow has gone though, the temperature has climbed to 6 or 7 degrees.

The final two days before Christmas were busy, we went with friends to Berkhamsted for lunch and then watch on to the film The Polar Express in The Rex, a lovely old cinema where the owner appears on stage to introduce the film and the kids can collect cushions to sit on from the foyer. The Polar Express is a bit of a crazy film isn’t it? Some of it didn’t make a lot of sense to me, it is a bit like a train ride through a dream.

On Christmas Eve we travelled to High Wycombe to watch a pantomime, we usually go to see a pantomime on Christmas Eve. This year it was Peter Pan. We saw the earlier matinee showing this year, a bit of a relief with the weather being so bad – I was hoping that it didn’t snow again and luckily it didn’t. Seeing the earlier show meant we could slip quickly out of the car park and get home early enough to ensure we didn’t have to wrap presents past midnight. Our kids were eager to get to bed. My 8 year old son had “practiced” sleeping the night before, he said so he was ready. They did fall asleep pretty quickly bless them.

Christmas and Boxing Day are a bit of a blur, we slept in a bit and went round to my wife’s mom’s for lunch and the afternoon and generally had a couple of family days.

This week has gone by all too quickly. On Monday we went and did some shopping. On Tuesday we visited my parents. It was nice to see them again, it has been a few months longer than I’d have liked this time – weather, health and other stuff has prevented me getting up to see them. They live a couple of hours away, so it’s not easy to just pop in like it is with my wife’s mom.

Wednesday and Thursday and probably today went and will go very quickly. We’ve done some walking into town and back. Not too much of anything else really, apart from eating and resting. Tonight will probably be a quiet night, as it usually is for us since having young children. We haven’t invited any friends over for drinks or anything. Hope your New Year goes well if you’re celebrating and if not, I hope it passes pleasantly into 2011 for you whatever you decide to do.

Stornoway - Fuel Up

Weathering the Storms

There are only four sleeps until Christmas, can you believe it? The snow here in the UK has been pretty bad recently, we had some on Thursday/Friday last week and again a big load fell on Saturday. The temperature outside has stayed below or at zero degrees centigrade, so the snow has stayed on the ground. It is affecting shopping, travelling and all aspects of life really. It is also really cold in the house, even with the heating on. Snow looks pretty but it really disrupts normal life.

I’ve had a rough week in many ways, I’ve had a stinking cold and because I’ve been rundown, predators in the form of cold sores have caught me on my top lip. At least they are on their way out. I wish my cough was on the way out, that seems to be lodged quite happily. I’m starting to get headaches from coughing all the time and never being able to clear my throat to breathe properly.

At work things are difficult too. A colleague is behaving in a very negative way and is bad mouthing the work I and another colleague of mine are doing. Every couple of days I find out about a fresh attack and we’re diverting energies into responding to these rather than getting on with our work. I am finding it very draining and there doesn’t seem to be a way for us to put pressure back on her, she is more senior. We’re trying to remain professional and calm through it all but I’m really starting to tire and I don’t want to work with the person anymore. The problem is that I’m supposed to be working with her on the next project also.

It’s A Book For Our Times

I liked this.

Cyber War I

It is interesting watching the story of WikiLeaks evolve into Cyber War I. It seems to me, as a casual observer, that it is not necessarily WikiLeaks that is the problem, rather who got hold of the information and thought of the idea to pass it on to make all the dirty linen public. It is obvious that there is a lot of pressure, a hell of a lot of pressure, being applied by the authorities to close down WikiLeaks. What is even more interesting is the support for the site from freedom of speech groups and also some individuals who are trying to coordinate cyber attacks on well known sites that have responded to the pressure from the US.

I sit on the fence, leaning towards freedom of speech but I can’t condone cyber attacks or physical violence at all. If this Cyber War develops, I think it will results in an Internet that is less free than it is now. Anyone who thinks that the Internet is a free space now is a dumb ass – everything done online can eventually be traced back to you, just remember that. There will be actions taken to prevent this kind of attack that will restrict what we perceive as freedom on the Internet now. The Internet is just a channel. It is a world wide channel and that is both the value of it and the problem with it. I think inevitably there are some misguided, easily led people, who will claim that they are attacking the corporate, commercialised, authoritan Internet. They are just deluded. Others are probably just criminals who would hack sites anyway.

Feeling like Christmas yet?

It’s been a while since my last post. Some weeks are like that. Never seem to find the right time to sit down and do the blog thing. This weekend is a bit of respite from rushing the children around. My daughter has been doing a woodwork course on Saturdays during November but that has now finished. They have both been unwell with colds and coughs, so have missed a day at school. My son isn’t well enough to go swimming today, so we have had a pretty lazy day. We did go out and buy a new Christmas tree. We looked at the real ones first, I like real the natural trees but my wife was concerned about the cost and the space one would take up – even a short tree can have a big diameter near the bottom. So we bought a slim artificial tree in the end, it was reasonably inexpensive and came with it’s own lights and decorations. We had our own sets of lights and baubles but it’s always useful to have spare ones. The tree now looks nice, tall and compact in the corner of the room, pretty but also not taking up too much space of its own. I like Christmas trees, considering the tradition isn’t that old it is remarkably effective. I can’t imagine Christmas feeling the same at home without a tree. I’m not a great fan of corporate Christmas trees however, they feel a bit impersonal to me.

There is Christmas music in the shops now and on the radio. I see the big supermarkets have lots of party food in stock. It all looks good but is all very packaged and processed. I don’t feel very Christmassy at all I’m afraid. I hope I get the feeling soon.

Children’s Books

I was looking at this list of top 10 best illustrated children’s books with a bit of doubt this morning. I don’t see any Judith Kerr (The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Mog etc.) or Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider etc.) or The Gruffalo or a Lucy Cousins (Maisy mouse). There are undoubtedly many more missing, it is difficult to only list 10 but I think you have to include some of the most popular books of all time in there. I love looking at children’s illustrated books – some of the best books can be so deceptively simple yet they talk with a universal language to children everywhere: that’s a rare thing indeed!

December Rising

It’s funny how fast December rolls around. It doesn’t seem that long ago since September was here. It really does feel like winter now, this week has just got so cold and horrid. My wife and daughter are off to a big competition today, while I stay at home with my son. He has homework to start and I have some errands and chores. I know the time will go quickly and then it will be Monday again before the weekend has really gotten started. At least that’s how it feels. I really do wish I had more holiday time away from work. Work can be so stressful at times that I just think it is too damaging to be there. I’d much rather just potter around, doing what I would like to do. Things like take up painting, drawing, writing poetry and music, listening to great music, writing, watching TV and films – some people do this stuff for a living, can you imagine getting paid and being famous for that kind of stuff? I wonder if the people who do achieve success in these realms actually think the same as I do about my job now, or do they enjoy it just as much as if they were only doing it for themselves?

Something to look forward to …

I saw yesterday that a new Tom Clancy novel is about to be published. I didn’t really know who Tom Clancy was until a few years ago. The first Tom Clancy experience I can remember is the time I played a computer game called Rainbow Six. I can’t remember how I came to have it, I don’t remember buying it – perhaps it came with a software bundle? I don’t know. In the game you have to plan a sequence of moves in various locations to attempt rescues of hostages who are being held by terrorists. In the second stage of the game you get to play as the SAS and storm the building to clear rooms. The second experience was probably reading the book Red Storm Rising, which I actually really enjoyed. I have read many more of his books since then and have enjoyed them. So a new Tom Clancy book is something to look forward to.

Feel that chill…

The weather yesterday turned into a brittle chill. It has gone so cold. Some places of the UK are experiencing snow, I hope we don’t get any. My wife and daughter have to travel on Sunday and I don’t particularly like the thought of them driving if the roads are dangerous, especially as they have to leave before dawn. My daughter is competing in an international sport event, so it will be difficult enough having to leave home so early. The thought of them getting stuck in a snow drift isn’t something I want to entertain.

My daughter’s 11 plus exam results are out today also. I hated finding out about exam results when I was younger, mainly because they were usually disappointing. I think in general I have an exaggerated sense of hope in my abilities. For my daughter, I just hope she ends up happy with what she gets and which school it ultimately leads her to.

Have a nice weekend, at least we can work today with the knowledge that it will be over by this evening for a few days.

Gig night

Friday’s gig was excellent. Joanne Shaw Taylor is a really great guitarist and singer. It has been a long time since I have been out to a gig on my own. I’m really glad I made the effort to go out, it was so worth it. I bought her new CD and got it signed because she hung out in reception to see the fans and do some signings.

The last two weekends have flown by. We have been busy taking the children to different things. After I finished work on Friday this week, I walked into town with my children to meet my wife and go out to a restaurant for dinner. It was a nice end to the working week and a nice way to begin the weekend. I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Joanne Shaw Taylor

I’m going to see this lady play on Friday night, I can’t wait to hear her blues guitar.

Christmas is looming larger

We’re almost midway through November and the shopping is getting harder. People are getting more manic as Christmas looms. The shops are openly stocking Christmas gifts. It won’t be long before Christmas muzak is piped through the sound systems wherever I go. I don’t know if I like this part of Christmas, I do like the German markets and aspects of traditional Christmas events. It is probably too early to talk about Christmas but I know that some people have already bought all their gifts already. Not me. This year, we’re supposed to be making our own Christmas gifts: I have no idea what to make for any of my family.

Bonfire night

We had a great weekend last week, went round a friends house and then walked across fields in the dark to a fireworks display. We then went back for food and drink. All very civilised, a pleasure.

My son competed in a Judo competition on Sunday, he lost both his fights but I don’t think his mind was on the job. He was also a lot lighter than his opponents. There was a girl from our club there who won a gold medal because she won all five of her fights. It was one of those times in life you don’t forget. I don’t expect she will forget it. I know her circumstances and I can’t say she has an easy life, so for her to win like that it brought tears to my eyes, it was fantastic. The thing is, she would have had a smile on her face even if she had lost, she’s got that kind of spirit.

My back is well on the mend, yesterday I tried a rucksack for my work laptop and I think it has been much better for me than the shoulder bag, which pulls me to one side.

The weather has been rather unpleasant recently, cold and wet (and it’s been dark when I’ve left the house and dark when I get home). Quite miserable really.

November cometh

We're into November now. The weather will get colder, mornings and evenings darker. Soon it will be time to fetch the heavy bed cover from the top of the wardrobe and place it on the bed. It feels like it has been a long autumn, it has been fairly mild here this year and doesn't seem to have rained as much. I don't like the cold. The only advantage the cold offers is that bed feels more snuggly and warm in the morning, trouble is you have to leave the bed to get up and go to work. Our children are also busy most weekends in November, so I don't see many opportunities for relaxing long lie ins.
I think my back felt almost like I could forget about it for parts of the day today, which is a good sign I feel. I hope I get a better night sleep than I did yesterday. It was hard to get comfortable last night and I overslept this morning. It was a bit of a rush, I don't want to rush around tomorrow. I'm travelling for work and won't be back until Thursday. I hate having to work away but a job's a job.
I've been sitting down with my son for him to read to me regularly. Tonight I was impressed that he continued until the end of his current book. Normally he only wants to read one chapter. I hope the regular sessions are helping him, he seems more willing to have a go at saying some words whereas I feel my daughter would rather just skip a difficult word. Some of the kids books are pretty dull and some are really good.

Catching up

Finally have some time to catch up with some blog stuff. I was thinking about what I would do if I just handed my resignation in at work. It was a nice little fantasy. Back in the real world there is stuff to pay for, so the slog continues.

My wife has been doing some Christmas shopping this week. I heard some other ladies talking and they too are preparing for Christmas. It seems really early to me to be thinking of presents but I suppose Christmas isn’t so many weeks away when you think about it. Especially if you have relatives who you have to post a parcel too. It is better to be prepared in those cases than to leave to the last minute. Same is true for friends you only see at or around Christmas. I’ve learned over the years that it is also worth having a few surplus gifts for those surprise times when you want to give a gift to someone who surprises you by turning up out of the blue after months and months. There are also those occasions when you receive an unexpected gift from somewhere you didn’t expect and you want to respond in kind.

I’ll probably watch a scary film this weekend for Halloween, haven’t decided what to watch yet. I do like Halloween though, I wished it lasted longer though. There is a gothic festival in Whitby, Yorkshire I was reading about last night. It sounds like a lot of fun. Whitby was the place where the boat that held Dracula’s coffin was bound in Bram Stoker’s novel. I love that book.

Back to back

Last Friday I tried to get up and out of bed but I was in a lot of pain. It was my back. I couldn’t stand without terrible pain. I called in a favour and got a friend to take the children to school. I managed to speak to my doctor and get some painkillers, she gave me some exercises too.

I’ve found the exercises help and today stopped taking the tablets, I’m still stiff and the pain continues but nothing as intense as before. I’ll just have to see how it goes. I’ve been told back pain can affect anyone at any time. I haven’t suffered anything like this before. I have felt twinges since the summer but I’ve just put them down to the way I’ve been sleeping or something. They have usually gone away until this week.

It does make me feel very vulnerable, having my mobility just taken away so suddenly like that. I’m just glad it is returning now. I’ll have to keep the exercises up and I may look into a chiropractor or Yoga.

Fool on the hill

LB posted a favourite Beatles song of hers on her blog recently, it has inspired me to do the same. I enjoy all the popular Beatles songs but this one in particular has stuck with me this year, before 2010 I don’t really remember hearing it before but as it’s The Beatles I suppose I must have heard it at some time.

Blinkbox

I watched the first episode of Andromeda at the weekend on Blinkbox for free. I enjoyed it, never having seen it before I was pleasantly surprised. It did get me thinking I should perhaps give other US Sci-Fi series a go – such as the Star Trek spin-offs like Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space Nine. They seemed to pass me by for one reason and another. I’m sure there are other Sci-Fi series that I would like but missed out on totally.

I watched the Kick Ass at the weekend too. I thought it was going to be poor but it was much better than that, better than I imagined it would be. I wouldn’t say it was great or anything but it could have been a lot worse. The story was pretty good, it was a bit out of the ordinary with the little girl being so violent and so foul mouthed it was amusing in a way that made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

I bought a book at the weekend, Just My Type about modern type faces we all use, their designers and their history. I like to know things about the design of type, it is one of those things we just all take for granted.

Fireworks

I was driving home last night and was at a roundabout when I saw some fireworks going up into the sky about a block and a half ahead of me. They were really pretty, professional sized ones – I don’t know what the event was but it must have been a pretty big affair. I was watching for about 10 to 15 seconds, waiting for cars to go past before I could join the traffic but perhaps I took my eyes off the cars and watched fireworks for 3 seconds when the horn of the car behind me beeps. I mean, really, some folks should just take a chill pill and not be so impatient. I hate driving at night because car headlights are so bright and the roads I travel on are so narrow and wind around bends. Then you get cars driving too close behind with their lights that seem so bright in my wing mirrors. I really dislike night time driving.

This weekend I’m hoping to take my children up to see my parents. It’s been quite a number of months since we’ve seen them. It will seem so strange and yet it should be the most natural thing, I wished they lived closer to us or we to them. I regret that I don’t live closer to my family sometimes. I’ve been feeling nostalgic of late. I don’t know why that is. Perhaps I’m feeling old? It does seem that way lately with my back playing up in a morning, I feel about ten years older than I should.

The Slog part 2

Last time I did any writing here feels such a long time ago! Things haven’t changed very much, next week I have booked a day off on Friday. My children are on half term holiday, so at least they get a break from school.

The weather has gotten colder this week. The leaves on trees are a beautiful red colour now, there are parts of this season that are really lovely. Work still feels like a slog to me, there are new pressures all the time.

I was shocked at the spending cuts this government are making, it seems the poorest are bearing the brunt. I imagine the arts are going to be hit hard because they are always a soft target. Somehow though, this country seems to excel when it is under pressure. I feel sorry for the children of the poorest people though. To some, the fear of losing housing benefit must seem feel like a terrible burden. I’d hate to be in that position, we are lucky to be where we are in these austere times.

Fifa or PES

Two very popular football (soccer) videogame franchises have released their new season videogames this month. I have always been a Fifa man, ever since Fifa 2003 on Playstation 2 came out and blew my socks off with it’s realism. Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) doesn’t have the licenses to use the real club names and kits but the likeness of players is there and there is something a bit endearing about the guesswork you have to do. However, I do prefer playing as the proper teams. My vote goes to Fifa, I just think it’s the better game at the end of the day.

The Long Slog

Just at the moment, there is a long slog going on in my life. It is the long slog until Christmas. A slog of work and cooking, shopping and cleaning up after the children. Don’t get me wrong, there are breaks and I am grateful for them. But I do feel it’s a bit of a slog because I only get so much holiday a year and in the need to conserve it for taking at Christmas, I have to work several months without a break. My back is playing up and it is contributing to a feeling of inertia, with work and other things getting on top of me. I just have to carry the burden and slog through it all. The weather is going to get colder, nights darker quicker and the mornings will seem earlier and earlier. My, I’m a cheery soul this evening aren’t I?

The One Show and Daybreak

There is a weekday programme on every evening (7pm) called The One Show and a weekday morning programme called Daybreak. They are on two different channels – one on the BBC and one on commercial television. So one has no advert breaks, while the other one does. The One Show got relatively good audience figures. My theory is that this is mainly due to it being on at a time when people have come home from work and children’s programmes have finished and have gone to bed. Adults can just slump on the sofa and will watch any old innocuous crap, which is exactly what The One Show offers with a touch of light humour.

However, there were two presenters, a man and a female co-host who might have felt the audience were engaged in watching them. It seems this was the case because the commercial channel offered them a deal to revamp the Daybreak show and switch allegiance to the other channel and they moved (both of them).

Now, it seems the audience figures for Daybreak have dropped. You could argue that the same blend of innocuous crap and light humour that was perpetuated in the evening doesn’t seem to be working for the early morning viewers. Having seen the previous morning programme I’m not sure the needs are that different. In the morning, you have young mothers who have been up during the night, are tired and want something light and innocuous that they can watch while making breakfast, feeding babies and so on.

So, my conclusion is that the presenters are less important than they think, so the amount of money they get paid is grossly exaggerated and not representative of their value.

Pads

I’ve seen a number of pad computers being launched recently. I’m not sure about the pad. I prefer to have a proper keyboard. I don’t see the death of the mouse anytime soon but I know some have predicted it. On the other hand, I enjoy playing with gadgets: so if the price point is affordable I might be encouraged to splash out on one. At the moment though, it is too early to tell whether they will be useful enough.

Labour Leader

I have seen some of the Labour conference in Manchester and in particular the new leader Ed Miliband. I am not very impressed really, I haven’t been interested in politics for a long time and I don’t see that changing. I don’t see any great charisma in this young leader.

Place of my own

Birthday Monday

Another Monday but my son’s birthday today. Hope he enjoys the gifts we’ve bought – I’m sure he will. Birthdays during the school week aren’t quite as much fun as during weekends. But I’m sure he’ll enjoy the day.

We had quite a quiet weekend really, the children had homework to complete and I had some work to do for the judo club. So we did some shopping. The weather wasn’t too great for cycling, so we gave it a miss this weekend.

I began watching the Book of Eli film last night but haven’t yet finished it. Gary Oldman always seems to play baddies.

Changes

There are several changes happening at the moment for me. The mornings and evenings are getting dark much quicker. The week so far has been mild and relatively sunny however today seems to be dark and wet.

Aside from the weather, my work routine is starting to change. I’m travelling to a different office one day a week, it breaks up the week a bit which is okay but I haven’t settled into a pattern yet.

My youngest is starting to get regular homework and it feels like schoolwork is beginning to get serious now. We’re reading at home and I will try to encourage reading and writing for pleasure at home – balancing that with TV and the Wii will be a bit tricky.

My oldest is choosing her big school (secondary/high school) and has to take an exam, she is one of the youngest in her class. I worry what will happen because the schools vary so much in their quality. Some schools are selective so they cream the most academic children, it seems so unfair. It seems too young at 10 to take exams and for such an important thing. The exam is meant to measure ability, so isn’t focused on things you can revise, despite some parents putting extra pressure on their kids. It might seem hypocritical but we have been paying for a private tutor once a week too, that is really just helps a bit with confidence though. I have to confess I am not an academic and didn’t do that well at exams, I have a vocational mind rather than a purely academic one. Probably one of the reasons I haven’t gone back into education during my adult life.

A quiet day

Last night I didn’t feel well at all; streaming nose and headache. This morning I had jippy guts and felt like death warmed up, so I took the decision that it was better I rest at home than try and work. So today I did just that, had quite a nice chilled out day. Did a bit of this, a bit of that, had a little nap and felt better afterwards. I don’t think this cold is going away anytime soon but it was good to have the day off sick and not have to compete with the rest of the world at work.

Tomorrow is probably going to be a different story. I will still have the cold but I won’t get any sympathy and I’ll be expected to catch up. Oh well, at least I’ve had one chilled day this week.

Monday update

The weekend was quite busy for me, we attended another Judo competition on Saturday and my daughter came away with a winners trophy for her weight group. She’s got quite a good collection of them now, bless her tough little cotton socks.

I’m creating a relational database for another local club, so that is forcing me to re-acquaint myself with database design – something I’ve not done for a few years.

We went for a cycle ride as a family on Sunday morning, it was good to be out in the fresh air.

Today, I felt de-motivated at work because of the way a senior manager communicated. You’d think these people in high paid positions would know how to handle people wouldn’t you? Maybe I’m being super-sensitive? I’d like to just say what I think but I know it’s not worth it. 

A song about a bike

I’ve always liked the strangeness of early Pink Floyd, this tune is one of the more accessible ones…

A Strange Occurrence

A couple of times a week I have to catch a particular train for work. In order to do that I have to drive through a village that is apparently one of the most haunted in the county. I’ve never really paid a lot of attention to that before but something happened yesterday that has never happened before to me in quite the same manner.

I was driving along, through the village and was nearly out of it. There is an old cottage with a thatched roof that one year was memorable because it had a thatched spider on top of it. It was a cold but sunny morning and there was condensation on my car when I first started it. But just at the point going through the village near the old cottage the temperature must have dived really suddenly because in a matter of seconds my windows and wing mirrors went from crystal clear to opaque with condensation. It was so sudden I almost began to panic until I realised it was external and I could use my wipers. My wing mirrors took several minutes to clear.

I just it was very odd to experience that sudden drop. Although it could be explained scientifically I’ve no doubt, part of me is susceptible to the notion of the supernatural having some kind of effect. Especially in old villages with probably some unsavoury history.

Final Day of the Holidays

Tomorrow represents the final day of the school holidays for my family. I have taken the day off and my wife has to work. So I have the children to do exciting things with. I haven’t really got a plan of what to do with them yet. It’s a little sad when it gets to this time of year but then again it’s progress – onwards and upwards as they say. Now I have to think about what to do tomorrow.

eBooks

I recently downloaded a couple of eBook reader applications for my netbook. I figured my netbook is similar in size and weight to a hardback book. I downloaded a small app that rotates the display, so I can read eBooks using the Netbook on its side, open like a book. Amazon’s Kindle is available to buy in the UK and is at a pretty good price point, it also has good online connectivity and looks like a good value package. Somehow though, I’m still not totally impressed by eBooks. Or the range of choice of books available. I’d heard that some libraries are loaning eBooks on memory sticks. I do have an uneasy feeling about eBooks, in the same way that I had uneasy feelings about internet search engines. Are these contributing to a decline in libraries and library services or just part of a technology shift? I’m not sure. Reading off a screen isn’t like reading off paper and holding a book in your hand. I don’t know about Kindle, maybe that would be an improvement over a backlit screen.

Oh Sherrie

I loved the album Street Talk by Steve Perry when it first came out, so many great songs. I re-acquainted myself with the album through iTunes this weekend. I love this track but have never seen the video until today.

Cycling again

This weekend I was back on my bike following my unfortunate accident last weekend. I bought a cycle computer that gives me information like speed, distance, average speed, time, stopwatch, calories burned and a few bits of other information.

We cycled 13 miles today, to a nearby village and back. The weather was just right. I’m glad I had this extra day for the weekend to enjoy with my family.

A Bank Holiday Beckons

I find it hard to believe that September is almost upon us. Seems like it was only yesterday that we were into summer. I traditionally like the run to December, I like looking forward to Christmas. I like the trees as their leaves change colour and the bright but cold morning sun. I like less the rain, the damp, the cold and the frosts and fogs. I'm glad we have seasons though, it would be too boring if the weather was the same all year round.
On Monday, we have a Bank Holiday in the UK - a non-working Monday. I like these, weekends of 3 days length should be the norm in my opinion. I also have wednesday off next week. So that means I will work only 3 days, which can't be bad.
This weekend I hope to be able to get back on my bike. I won't be overdoing the speed though.
I've been playing a lot of the game Professor Layton and the Curious Village videogame on my Nintendo DS Lite; if you enjoy puzzles and brainteasers I heartily recommend it.

Crash, Bang, Wallop!

I knew it couldn’t last! I was enjoying cycling too much to be true. On Saturday, while enjoying a short cycling trip with my family I decided to impress my son with a burst of speed and left the path. I accelerated on the grass verge and my plan was to rejoin the path. Unfortunately, I didn’t account for a rut between the grass and the concrete path. My bike hit the rut and went one way while I went the other and crashed down hard on the floor. Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet. Even so, I found myself dizzily standing up not knowing what had hit me. The reaction of my wife and kids was instant and very caring. So, I’ve damaged a pair of glasses and have plenty of grazes including on my face and a black eye. I guess these things happen and I should feel grateful that I walked away relatively alright instead of having to go to an Accident and Emergency Department. It does go to show that speed can be a dangerous thing. It hasn’t deterred me from cycling but I will be taking it easy from now on. Lesson learned.

A Short Weekend

It feels like it has been a short weekend, my first since returning to work after the holidays. Two days rest just doesn’t feel long enough.

We did cram a lot in though. I had a boys day with my son on Saturday as my wife and daughter had to leave early for a judo competition. My daughter is getting on really well with the sport, she beat her opponents to win a gold medal, a testament to her skill is that she had to fight in a weight category above her and the girl she fought in the final was 6 kilos heavier and head and shoulders taller. She was taller than my daughter even when standing on the podium. It’s not always size that matters though, as my daughter proved.

I took my son swimming and to the library. We bought the ingredients for a boys burger lunch and cooked them at home. We played with Lego, watched a DVD and played some videogames. Just chilling out.

On Sunday, we all went out for a family bike ride. It was great. The weather turned out really nice and we rode to another village and back after stopping in a park that my kids love to play in. Funny how you notice other riders when you’re out yourself, I don’t notice cyclists so much when I’m driving out and about unless they’re directly infront of me on the road. I’m not going to be buying a Lycra suit any time soon though, I’m riding for pleasure not for racing. There was some story in the BBC website about MAMILS (Middle Age Men in Lycra – a story about middle aged men who buy road racing bikes instead of cheap Japanese sports cars). My son found some of the journey hard though because his bike is a youngsters one and doesn’t have gears. If we can afford it, we’re going to see if we can buy him one with gears sometime soon so that he’ll find the going a bit easier and we can go further. I did feel for him but to his credit he kept going despite complaining a bit. We cycled probably about 10 miles, nothing too heavy but due to the weather we had a great time and got some exercise.

I hope you all had a good weekend too.

Netbook Disaster Recovery

Just before going away I was running some checks on my Netbook when I found it had an infection – my suspicions were raised because Google results always took me to shopping sites or other search engines rather than the pages I was selecting and it would not let me go to the Windows Update site, this prompted my scans using the Microsoft website and I was unlucky enough to find out I had some kind of mallware infection. No thanks to my security software though, which continued to report no issues affecting my machine throughout the whole episode. Advice on various websites suggested the best removal practice was to wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows. After backing up my data, I did this.

The reinstall went OK, although there were a lot of updates to install again for Windows and it took several days to download and install the applications I use regularly. I’m still sometimes looking for something that I’ve either got to reinstall or pull off a back up disk but at least I’m operational again.

With reinstalling Windows my big fear is usually about whether I have a recovery disk. With a Netbook there is no optical disk. Fortunately the good people of the Internet provided a solution and I actually found I had a recovery partition on my hard disk that handled it for me. It’s usually an unsettling period though when wiping a disk and starting again. Now I’ve done it though, there are some benefits in terms of speed and also clearing of clutter. I like a fresh install, reminds me of the thrill of starting to work with a new PC. Is it nerdy to admit that?

Back from hols and back to work

Last week we were on our holidays at the seaside. It was good to be some place we hadn’t been before. The beach was lovely and we walked a long distance every day. As a birthday present for my wife recently my daughter asked me to buy Walk With Me for the Nintendo DS Lite. It comes with two pedometers that you wear everyday and at night can compare your activity rhythms with your partner. There are some games you can play – one is called Illuminate and it shows your Mii’s on a walking machine and the Mii’s walk while the time goes by over their heads and when you both maintain an activity level at the same time they shout “Synchro!” and eventually you can illuminate a town. It’s good fun and we walked A LOT while on holiday – my left leg ached so I don’t know how our children managed it – except that they are really fit and I’m not!

On Sunday morning my daughter and I went out on our bikes for a really satisfying ride. The weather was lovely.We rode along some of the cycle routes that have been created in and around the town. We rode to my kid’s village school and back. It took 40 minutes to get there, taking our time and just leisurely cycling. It was good to be out getting the exercise.

I was back at work today. The fear of being away always seems to overpower the actual experience. I hate coming back to work after a break though.

Bike Crank

My family and I went cycling this afternoon. But unfortunately my son’s pedal crank had worked loose without my noticing and it came off. So without tools to repair, we had to cut short our ride. Shame, I had been looking forward to riding my new bike a bit longer. We were all quite tired though, after not getting back from London until after midnight (my wife and I) and the kids stay up later during the holidays than they would at school.

Holiday Beckons

We travel down to the coast on Monday. I’m looking forward to being away somewhere new for a while. I have to think tomorrow what I want to take with me. I’ve a couple of books I could take and my PSP. I have a drawing pad and some pencils. And not to mention the video camera and the stills camera. I also need to think about the journey and what snack food we’ll be needing. Motorway food can be ridiculously expensive, so I think is best avoided spending lots of money on food if we can.

I hope the sea air recharges all of our human body batteries. My back is slowly regaining its strength, I’ve been applying Ralgex for the last couple of days to ease the pain a bit – I don’t know if it’s helping or I’m just getting better on my own accord. Oh well, the end result is the same.

Friday Night by The Darkness

This song makes me smile and I hadn’t seen the video until today, I wish all rock videos were this amusing.

Theatre Night

For my wife’s birthday this year I planned to surprise her. I asked a friend of ours to try and find out which shows she was interested in seeing. My wife loves musicals and seeing West End shows. She loves walking around London in summer evenings when the streets are crowded and there is food and music all around and people having a fun time. So our friend mentioned a couple of shows a few months back and I took a gamble and booked one of them without really knowing anything about it or doing the normal amount of research. My wife also likes to try and book quite a long time in advance to get seats near the front. I got stalls seats that were two rows from the front, so good or bad we would be able to watch closely.

The plan came to fruition last night, the babysitter (my mother in-law) arrived early and it all clicked into place. We both had a good time and it was nice to be doing something different on a Friday night. It was also nice knowing that her birthday was the next day and that in a couple of days we would be going away to the seaside for our holiday. She loved the show, we both did. It was in the Prince Edward Theatre London , which was a lovely theatre – the show we saw was called The Jersey Boys. It was the story of The Four Seasons, latterly Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Very well acted and sung by all the cast with wonderful stage production and direction and amazing set design.

I found out that my wife likes surprises to an extent but she found it a little uncomfortable until she knew the nature of the surprise, so I had to drop little hints this week just to settle her a bit.

Achievements

This week has been enjoyable and productive so far. On Wednesday we cleared the loft of a number of items that had been hanging around too long. My wife also threw out our old Christmas tree and I think is secretly excited about buying a new one to replace it.

Today I sorted out the sitting room, it was becoming my sons play room: he was turning it into that and my wife and I were slowly retreating into either the dining room or our bedroom. I reclaimed it as a family room. Cunningly I have created a space behind the sofa where he can play with his Lego while my wife and I watch TV. He loves it. All I did was angle the sofa in a different way. I now have both the Wii and my Xbox plugged into the same TV. So I play my adult rated games after my kids have gone to bed.

Clearing

My wife and I spent the day clearing the crap out of the garden. It was very satisfying to finish the final car trip to the dump knowing that the garden was clear. This includes the dreaded bottom shed. Now free for us to use as a garage for our bikes that we pick up tomorrow.

Red Dead Saturday

Today I traded in some videogames for the Red Dead Redemption game. It’s an open world Western with great graphics and game play. It’s probably got enough content to keep me going a couple of years.

After that we visited the local cycle shop. We’ve been walking or jogging while the children ride their bikes on Sunday mornings, but we've wanted to join them on our own bikes so that we can keep up with them. We haven’t had bikes for years and I’ve never rode along with my wife as neither of us have had a bike while we’ve been together. But today, we decided to go and select a pair of bikes for us. And we did just that. Two nice silver bikes. We pick them up on Tuesday. Here’s a photo of mine, my wife has the women’s frame version – it is a bit smaller for the rider which suits her size better.

Friday at last!

It feels like it has been a long week this one. Today is good because it marks the start of two weeks of annual leave for me. I’m delighted not to have to worry about work for the next fortnight. I have been so busy at work and at the weekends lately that I haven’t really had a chance to have a good sit down and do some blogging. I hope to have more time for this now.

Last weekend my son competed again in a Judo competition and won his three fights to win a second gold medal. I was really chuffed for him. He also got to meet a real life para-Olympian Judo player and got his picture taken holding a real life Olympic medal, what a treat!

Sherlock Holmes

I watched the film Sherlock Holmes this weekend, being used to the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce characterisations of Holmes and Dr Watson I must admit to feeling like they got the relationship between the two characters wrong. There was almost a role reversal between the two characters, with Downey Jr playing it for laughs against Watson's straight man. So, although the film was entertaining in it's way, I don't think it was a successful version.
This weekend was a bit of an unexpected success. My daughter was involved in a Judo competition, the other competitors were using it as a practice session for the national squad - so they were really good. My daughter did well but lost her two fights and the other members of our club fought hard but lost too. Valuable experience but a bit humbling. However, as my daughter was several kilos lighter than her opponents, she was the only competitor in her class and therefore won the gold medal. So that was a surprise.
On Sunday, the under eights at the club went for a training session and there was a bit of a competition afterwards. I had been trying all week to balance my son's confidence and optimism with a bit of realism: so he would say things like he was going to have a box to keep his medals in and I was saying that it's not about winning but about taking part. We heard that all competitors win some kind of medal, so I thought ah well he'll at least have a bronze to bring home. But he surprised me with his techniques and actually knuckled down to the task at hand, winning his three fights to win a gold medal. He's only a slight lad and his competitors were much taller than him. Just goes to show how much your kids can surprise you.

Spies, Lies and Pies

The news about spying today prompts me to think again about an idea I have for a new blog. Basically, my idea is to just report on stories in the news that could easily appear in a spy thriller. Some of the news stories you read, you just couldn’t make up: better than any fiction. I haven’t started such a blog just because if I had the time I would write the novel instead. A lot of the Tom Clancy novels mention how informative CNN is on foreign issues. To the extent that the president always has CNN on in the Oval Room and often hears intelligence first from it. I wonder how true that is? It sounds credible but I imagine there is a bank of analysts producing overview material for the top dogs: they probably use printed material instead of the instantly accessible TV. A picture says a thousand words.

The Futureheads

Not a new song anymore but I still enjoy this version.

England and USA Out Then

Well the good spell didn’t last long, if getting into the last 16 is a good spell. I think the results probably reflect the way the teams played. I’m not that interested in the World Cup now that England and USA are out. I suppose I should try and find an alternative team to support, maybe the Netherlands: I don’t like Germany or Argentina.

I haven’t watched any of the tennis, I can’t remember the last time I was interested in tennis. It is so boring, with matches that seem to go on and on for no particular reason. It really does seem absurd to me why it is stretched out so long.

This weekend was quite eventful, it was our local Judo Club Championship and we had a good time. My wife and a friend had a cake stall and I helped with mats and chairs. The turn out was very good and the quality of the Judo playing was excellent, all the kids really did put such an effort in and the seniors too. On Sunday, we visited a National trust property that held a annual arts festival. we watched a child of a friend’s African drumming performance and then watched while the kids went crazy on the activity playground, it’s on different levels and surrounded by trees and other plants so is a very nice environment to play in. There was singing and dancing and other activities too. A great day out but we were so tired, we didn’t stay too long. Then it was home in time to have some food and watch the England v Germany match. No more to be said on that front!

Hot hot hot

The weather since last week has been amazing, really hot and sizzling. I could get used to this weather. My wife hates it but I think it makes a nice change to have a bit of heat. It’s not too humid, which is good and the breeze is still cool when it comes.

Enough about the weather! I saw half of Avatar the movie last Friday, I thought it was really good. The special effects were amazing. That’s not even 3D or Blu-Ray, just good old DVD quality. I watched an hour and had to go and do some chores but didn’t quite feel up to watching the other half, I’m not quite sure why – I think I could guess what was coming next and I wasn’t going to be any more impressed than I was already with the effects. I would like to see the other at some point however, maybe I’ll buy it some time.

I’ve also seen The Hurt Locker recently too, can’t remember if I’ve mentioned that. Now that was an awesome film I thought. I haven’t seen too many recent war films but that one was very good.

Heatwave

I don't know what the criteria for a heatwave is but it feels like we're in one this week. It has been lovely and hot and warm all week so far. So for my purposes, I shall describe it as a heatwave. People seem a bit more relaxed when the weather is hot.
Lately, I've been over-indulging in food, particularly fast food. It happens slowly but over a period of time it builds up. Eating out. That's my problem - I like eating out. So in an attempt to stop the rot, I'm awaiting a diet plan to come through. I have signed up for the GI diet, via my wife, so hopefully we'll be losing some weight soon. It doesn't help that temptation is all around, either at work where people bring in donuts, biscuits, sweets and cakes or at home where we have chocolates and biscuits given to us for the kids.
I have been watching some of the DVDs I got for Father's Day, Blake's 7 and Sapphire and Steel.

Father's Day

I can't believe all of last happened since my last post - time just seems to disappear! I can't even remember most of last week now. This weekend we had Father's Day on Sunday. I somehow managed to forget my dad's birthday this year, so I made sure he got a card and a gift for Father's Day. I myself got some DVDs I have been after for a while from my wife and kids, which was sweet of them. I took them out for a bike ride in the morning, followed up by another walk and a Sunday lunch in a village pub. The food was lovely and we all had a good time.
This week feels a bit disjointed because I have had to take today off to take my daughter to another town so that she can do a guitar exam. Seems a bit crazy to have the exam in another town but that's the situation. So I had a busy day yesterday and now I get to relax and tomorrow and the rest of the week will be busy. Bit of a stop/start week.
I'll have to do something constructive this afternoon, this morning I'll take it easy but I feel I need to achieve something later, so I might take a trip to the dump to get rid of some of the broken stuff we have in the back garden: I've let it pile up a bit and need to do some clearing so that we can take a bit more pride in the garden: I'll have to do some grass cutting too then. Pity that grass doesn't just need a cut at the start of summer and one at the end. Oh well, have a good week trekkers!

In the closet at Download 2010

This weekend the Download Festival plays host to some of the best bands on the planet:

• ACDC
• Them Crooked Vultures
• Rage Against The Machine
• Megadeth
• Aerosmith
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Motorhead
• Saxon
• Bullet For My Valentine
• Stone Sour
• Killswitch Engage
• Lamb of God
• Five Finger Death Punch
• Atreyu

I've attended only two large music festivals and they were over ten years ago now, infact the Phoenix Festival as it was called only ran for something like 3 years. It did attract a lot of good bands though and I saw some great music. The experience has stayed with me. The first time I went with a friend and stayed in a motel nearby, driving to the site each day. The second time I went, it was alone and I took my tent and camped. It was quite a solitary experience, which was weird with so many other people around. The thing is, when you go to an event like a festival, you see people who are living the alternative lifestyle more than I ever could as someone with a job and responsibilities. You see people who have really long hair, tattoos, piercings, druggie trappings, wearing clothes that look like something out of the Mad Max films. They wear the badge of office: the signs indicate that they are of another class - a class I feel affinity with yet somehow a class I both aspire to and paradoxically one I also look down on. If I bought a death metal band T-shirt it would feel odd and I'd feel awkward and out of place. Even though, I might really enjoy listening to that music on my iPod. I also know that a proportion of those people attending have responsible jobs and families and go as large family groups - I miss that, I would love to take my family to a festival with a group of other families who also like rock music but the truth is my wife has made more social connections than me with other families - I talk to other daddies but they aren't interested in rock music and film and videogames like I am. My wife isn't interested in those things either and there's a limit to how much I can indulge my liking for those things in a family environment. I'd like to know of a club or community for other adults in my situation, does one exist?

One Gold Medal Later

My daughter won a gold medal for her Judo competition last weekend. This Saturday my son has a mini-competition to attend and then the weekend after that it is the local Judo club championship, then another competition after that I think. So we've quite a bit of competitive fighting over the next few weekends.
I've got to take my car in to the local garage for its MOT test this Friday, I hope it passes. I have new tyres to replace the ones that were close to the legal limit, so at least I know it won't fail on tyres.
The World Cup starts on Saturday and England play the USA, so I'm looking forward to watching that match. I haven't really been looking forward to it that much recently but now it's closer I am starting to feel more excited by it. My wife can't understand why I would watch it when our own country team aren't playing but I just like to see different styles of football and I like to watch matches to see good football skills on show. I can't explain it any better than that. It's something to talk about with other men I suppose too, something my wife doesn't really "get" either. She thinks men should talk about how we feel, what fears we have and what's happening with our lives but really they're the last thing we like to talk about. That's perhaps a bit cliched but it's not all that far from the truth.
I mentioned we visted Collectormania recently, well the day after we went I heard from someone else who went that they saw Keifer Sutherland signing autographs there. My wife was ever so disappointed she missed him, she loves him! He wasn't advertised, so perhaps it was to avoid too long a queue: even so there was a very long queue for him apparently!

Collectormania May 2010

Collectormania was good again this year, my son really enjoyed it. being a Star Wars fan he was in his element. Certain characters were dressed up and walking around, including old R2D2 below.
I bought a figure of Marcus Fenix from Gears Of War and my wife purchased photographs of various people for her wall at work.

End of May update

Just as the Eurovision Song Contest was beginning on Saturday night, a friend we hadn't seen for months called and so I didn't watch it live. I watched it on Sunday, after coming back from Collectormania.
I watched it with my daughter on BBC iPlayer. It was a mix of techno pop, slower ballads, chart-friendly melodic metal and pure pop. This year's wierd entries were from Spain and Serbia. We had to suffer Spain's entry twice because of a stage invasion the first time they sang by a guy wearing jeans and a fez! I didn't see the need for them to perform again because they coped very well and it didn't affect their performance. In the end Germany won, after what I said about the Germans in my last post I now have to eat my own words. I thought it was a good song but certainly not a winner. The second place country was Turkey with a metal song, I scored it joint first so I was close to picking a winner. A few songs were equally as good as the winner but didn't really feature in the top five, Iceland's song for instance. But that's the Eurovision. Norway did a great job of hosting the competition and nothing went wrong. One nice touch, which really worked well and made me feel all warm inside was a flash mob dance routine across the whole of Europe. Such a simple idea but one that I think Eurovision should do in the future, you can watch it below.

Eurovision 2010

A quick search of this blog will reveal how I enjoy and lok forward to the Eurovision each year. I don't watch for lasting appeal of the songs - it is rare that I actually remember the songs even on the next day to be honest. I enjoy it because it is a song contest that stretches across Europe and it brings a small glimpse of different national costumes and cultures in the 3 minute country portraits before every song entry. I liked it as a child because the UK or Great Britain actually used to win it sometimes when I was young. Lulu won it in 1969 with a song titled Boom-Bang-A-Bang (believe it or not I don't think it was about sex), but I was too young to remember being less than a year old at the time. Abba won it with "Waterloo" in 1974, it was a win for Sweden but Abba would have been a class above the competition in any year. Brotherhood of Man had a song "Save All Your Kisses For Me" that I think was a Eurovision winner from 1976, it was a ridiculously popular song on the radio I remember as a child. I also remember the skirt ripping-off antics of Bucks Fizz from 1981 when they sang "Making Your Mind Up", another ridiculously popular song. The last time the UK won was when Katrina And The Waves sang "Love Shine A Light", a hideous song in my opinion but most of our entries have been even worse ever since. I couldn't believe it in 2006 when Finland won for the first time in the history of Eurovision with Lordi singing a metal song "Hard Rock Halleluja".
The songs are all song first and then there is an intermission before the voting begins. As a child the voting was the most interesting part. An illuminated scoreboard had lights and scores. Each country was telephoned and a local TV presenter read out their votes, scoring a series of votes across all the countries who they wanted to vote for. As more countries have joined the contest across Europe (with things like the break up of the Soviet Union too), the contest has got larger and the voting more predictable, or should I say political, as each country awards most points to its closest neighbours: statistical analysis of this bloc voting has been studied and the figures suggest it is a real problem: Eastern, Scandinavia, Balkan and Baltic bloc voting are the worst offenders. It means that countries who spread their votes fairly on just the quality of song and performance often end up very low down the scoreboard (that's if any country actually does this).
When things go wrong it is quite funny too. Like when communication breaks down - less likely now we have better telecomunications but I remember phone lines being a problem when I was a child. Or when the computer scoreboard crashed as I seem to remember it doing one year - again less likely. No, these days the amusement is more likely to come from a country with a song and performance that is idiosyncratic: chosen by the public in that country to represent them. We have had some real howlers - especially from Germany: those crazy freaks!
So anyway, here is a link for you to find out more and I hope the UK does well!

Looking Ahead But Not Very Far Ahead

Looking ahead to this evening and tomorrow actually (well, alright and maybe into next week...). Tonight, is the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest (more about that in the next post). Tomorrow, we're going to Collectormania 2010, this time we have the correct weekend! So I'm looking forward to seeing the real General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard and catching a glimpse of someone famous from the Star Wars films or Doctor Who or some other such famous cult TV series or film. On Monday, it is a public holiday so I don't have to work. I also have Thursday and Friday off, so I will hopefully be going to Brighton on Friday.
My other news is that my daughter auditioned for her school play and would you believe it ended up with the part of the main character of Robin Hood! So not only does she feel like she has to blast us all out with singing at the top of her voice, she now feels she has a legitimate right to do so: hope her head doesn't swell with the fame!

Stop and pause

I was looking through the music section of our local library on Saturday, as I usually do. And I stopped and paused over a CD that looked interesting. I didn't in the end borrow it. I wasn't sure what it would be like. Rather like making a purchasing decision, when you like the look of something but you don't know how it will taste. I decided not to take the gamble. Instead I made a voice clip on my cellphone of the artist name and CD title. The voice recording is a feature I've never used for anything practical before - mainly I've used it to record my son using a weird voice. On this occasion, I decided to play back the voice recording and look the artist up on LastFM and she sounds like just the kind of music I'd like. Typical! Anyway, I'm going to reserve a copy from the library and yyou can watch her  below, the artists name is Tina Dico and I love this song Count to Ten.

Early Riser

I don't know whether it is being away from home or whatever. I have woken up at 4:45am two mornings this week. This is early for me. I don't know why I should wake up at those times, it's not like I set my alarm for that time but it has happened twice now. This morning, I actually booted up my laptop and got some work done, so it was useful in a way. I bet I'll fall asleep earlier tonight than I normally would.
I am looking forward to this weekend. I'm going to take my son up to see my mum while my daughter competes, I find it hard to watch. I usually have to hide a tear in my eye by wiping it away quick, regardless of whether she wins or loses I'm so proud of her because she works so hard and some of these girls are so much bigger than her.

Away Days

My daughter's competition is this Sunday rather than last Sunday, I got that wrong. I did get my tyres seen to though, which was a bit of a relief. They were still legal but had the weather been worse I would have been at risk. Tyres aren't cheap and I had to buy two new ones. I was talking to the mechanic and found out they also do air conditioning re-gassing, so I booked my car in for that on Saturday coming. My aircon doesn't work and with the summer fast approaching I really need temperature control in my car.
Not much else is happening really, hence my posts being fairly quiet. I have been away from home a couple of nights this week, I get back tomorrow, so it has felt a bit like I'm a stranger in my own home. A feeling I don't like very much.
I have noticed that my belly is getting bigger, which I find a bit of a downer. I will have to do something about that. I should diet. You heard it hear first!

Paranormal weekend

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last posting. A new government is in post and a new man is running the helm with a deputy who day earlier was a competitor. Weird how things turn out isn't it?
My daughter takes part in a Judo competition this weekend, so we'll be cheering her on. I've borrowed the film Paranormal Activity from the Library to watch on my own tonight as my wife is out for the evening.
I should probably go and get my tyres checked and replaced this weekend too.
That's about it, have a great weekend folks!

Would you believe it?

You know when you have one of those experiences that embarasses you and you just have to put down to experience to get past it? Well, yesterday we all got up early-ish for a Bank Holiday Sunday and planned our travel to Collectormania. The venue has changed this year, they moved it from the large shopping mall space to the new stadium further out from the centre. We thought it would be busy and parking might be expensive but we knew we could park near the shopping centre for free and we found out from their website that there was a free bus to Collectormania. So, although it was chilly and a bit wet we did that. Walking briskly we left the car and headed for the bus stop. We considered popping into MacDonald's for a quick breakfast snack but decided against it because of not being sure whether the bus would be on time or late (they're never early are they?). We got to the bus stop but had some doubts. There was nobody else waiting, which I found a bit puzzling. There were no temporary bus signs indicating the free bus to Collectormania stopped at that particular one. So, we decided to wait. We waited. And waited. And then decided to check the website again on my phone, which I did and we were in the right place. Still no bus. By this time the bus was 30 minutes late and we'd been waiting 45 minutes. I suggested we cut our losses and go shopping in the mall, where the shops were now starting to open, because I reasoned that the free bus must have been cancelled. After my wife had bought a dress she needed for an upcoming event, we headed off to Collectormania. We got to the stadium and the car park was quiet, a few cars but nothing like what we were expecting. There were also no signs up and no indication which entry door to go to. So we drove around and pulled up to eat a few sandwiches we had picked up. I re-checked my phone. Guess what? You guessed it, it was on the Bank Holiday at the end of May and not the one at the beginning. It was my wife who told me it was on this weekend, I was a little bit surprised when she told me because in my mind I thought it was further away but I was so excited I wanted it to be this weekend that I accepted it. I looked at the website but didn't pick the date up very easily because it wasn't written in text, it was part of the graphic button and written in yellow I think. So the lessons to learn? Check your facts before you set off! Listen to your inner voice!

Collectormania 2010

I'm excited this evening because tomorrow we're going to Collectormania. I love this show, we see some celebrities who are signing autographs and some collector's memorabilia that can be bought. I'm not really going to buy anything but if I see something that takes my fancy I might do that. I like seeing things from movies and TV in real life. I'm looking forward to what I might find tomorrow.

Trouble brewing

In our town tomorrow there is a march by an anti-Islamic group. Our community is made up of many different faiths and the police are expecting trouble. We are avoiding the town, the library is closed and I suppose many of the shops will be closed too. I can't stand intolerance and I hate the fact that these outsiders are coming to a peaceful community like ours to make trouble in this way.

Soon be May

May is just around the corner. Less than an hour away infact. It's been a busy week workwise, I've got a lot done but there is so much more to be done over the next few weeks. This weekend is a Bank Holiday, which means I have Monday off. The weather has gotten a bit cooler in the last 24 hours and it is apparently going to stay cold for the next few days, including rain. Shame about the rain, we were planning to do some gardening work. Might have to put that off.

Listening

I was enjoying listening to my iPod as I drove home this evening in the warm evening sunlight. A song by Krtistin Hirsch came on and reminded me how much I enjoyed her songs. The video below shows her in 1994, I really enjoyed this period of her music. Hope you enjoy it.

War Games

I had a nice few days off recently. I've got a few photos of my travels. I took some panorama shots from the top of a hill on Sunday morning. They turned out OK, it was the first time I used that feature on my phone - I didn't even know it had that feature to be honest!
I titled this post War Games because that is what I've been playing recently. More specifically, Battlefield Bad Company 2 on Xbox360. I don't normally play multiplayer games, preferring the story mode to what sometimes feels like mindless running around and shooting the crap out of each other. BFBC2 feels a bit different because your success depends on working as a team. I don't play with a headset, it just seems too nerdy to speak to other players and I don't take it all that seriously. I do like to play as a squad though and I play as a medic so I drop health packs on the ground and get points for the healing that they give to other players on my team. I also have the ability to use defibrillators to revive fallen team members after they've been shot, that's quite satisfying. Of course, I also have a bloody big gun that I use to kill with! There are other roles that can be adopted in a four person squad, so when I've racked up many more hours as a medic, I can stretch the game out even longer by adopting a new role and learning how to get good at it. I've looked at the player statistics and some people have over a hundred hours of play time. It makes my 6 hours of multiplayer mayhem seem miniscule.
Here's a photo of me on Sunday, enjoying the rays.

Weekend

My weekend has been quite good. On Friday night we went to see the filming of a TV show "infront of a live studio audience" at Pinewood Studios. The show was The IT Crowd, here's a clip from a previous episode. I've been once before, the studios there have a Bond 007 stage but I don't know if they do tours. They embarassed someone in the audience because we were told to turn off all our phones (they don't allow any filming etc.) but someone was Twittering and he got found out. I have no idea how they found out though.
On Saturday, our library had a big AV sale and I picked up a couple of videogames - one of the Grand Theft Auto series for PSP and the second Halo game for Xbox. A new exchange shop opened on Saturday in town and I bought another videogame, this time it was the first Halo game for Xbox. I really like the Halo universe.
Today, we had to go and get our old broken PC from the shop who had tried to repair it. I got some of my money back at least. Then we went out to go and buy a new one. I was looking at the new touch screen all in one PCs but we saw one that could just be plugged into our existing keyboard, monitor and speakers. It was more powerful than the all in one we could afford and because it was the last one in stock and was on display we could get it for 100 pounds less - the warranty and support terms were exactly the same, it just didn't include the original packaging.
I set it up this evening and moved most of the data off our old hard drive. The only hassle has been that our old programs are not on the new machine, so I've left a few things until I have more time to sort them out. At least we have a family computer again. We use it more than a car, so we spent a bit more than I was expecting to on it but I think we got a good deal in the end. Things don't last as long as they used to though, especially where computers are concerned.

Holiday coming up!

We're going to visit some friends of ours in the later half of this week, we haven't seen them for a while and they have gone through a few changes in life. They have two children now, so it will be interesting to see how they are liking it. I'm just looking forward to getting something of a break from work with my family. The place we're going to is an old Roman city in Northern England called York. It has a famous cathedral and I also like that the city walls are still intact and you can walk along the stone battlements. We'll probably visit the Viking centre because the city has a Viking heritage as well. Last time we went, my daughter and I met up to take a walking Ghost Tour of the city in the evening, it was very good - the man leading the tour was quite theatrical. I'm looking forward to doing that again. I like local history, especially if there are supernatural stories to hear.

General Election 2010

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a general election on May 6th. I am already completely bored by the politics. I really dislike politicians and don't trust any of them. None of the party leaders really appeal to me to be fair. I think there will be a hung parliament and I don't know if I remember anything like the election this time around. I will vote though, even though I despise politicians I believe in democracy and politics for the people by the people. I just wished that some of the politicians did as well.

Demanding week!

Hi, it feels like a long time since I've been able to blog. I'm looking forward to catching up with the blogs I like to read after this. The reason for my absence has been because of two things: firstly, at work I've had an incredible amount to do. I had to plan, organise and run a workshop on Thursday and secondly, our family computer just wouldn't work last Sunday. The power was working and it started all of the fans however after a few seconds (without any motherboard beeps) it would just power down without any information on the screen, so didn't even boot. So I took it in and was told there was a queue and it was taking up to 14 days to get to new repairs. I heard on Friday from them, so in better time than I expected, however the news wasn't good: they think the motherboard is the problem and they don't sell the same motherboard anymore and advised me that it was not really cost effective to repair, so we have to get a new PC. So, my wife has been using my netbook which I use for blogging this week - at least until we got her laptop from work to talk to our wireless broadband modem.

Gym in a park

We recently took the kids for a play on a park in a nearby village. We call it the Helter Skelter Park because it has a helter skelter in it but next to the children's play area there are a set of gym-like exercise machines for adults to try out. I think they are a great idea but it's the only park I've been to where I've seen such things. Here is a photo of one of the new machines recently put in place. When I say machines, they don't work on there own, you have to move the parts but they are great because the stuff you have to do can be done by any mobile adult - so the age range they can be used by is wide. Also, they don't require a lot of strength so you can be having a nice stroll and do some gentle exercise along your way. A great addition to the park I think, I wish more places had these sorts of human-friendly devices!

Bad Blogger

I'm a very bad blogger! Haven't had a lot of time recently, been doing some packing and other stuff in relation to getting on with moving house. Still more to do. My thanks and appreciation to Mrs Hairy Woman for awarding me with a blog award over at Northern Sky Chronicles. Sooo nice of her!!

That's it for now, only had time while the kettle boiled to write this!

The New Blues

I like the Blues as a form of music, it is the basis of so many great styles today. Here's a young protagonist of the Blues that I like listening to and want to share with you. His name is Joe Bonamassa and I think he's fairly well known!

A Day Without Work

Hey folks, I had a day outside of work today. I am working tomorrow and then I also have Friday and Monday on leave too: so a nice long weekend. I had a few days I needed to use up and thought what the hell, I need a break. Work can take over, it's time to put the balance back!

My wife had to go into London, so I dropped her at the station and picked her up from it when she returned. I also picked my kids up from school and took them and a friend to the gymnastic class they attend. Then took them to McDonald's for tea as a treat.

I saw an old friend for a drink and a chat in the pub around the corner at lunchtime, it's good to catch up. I haven't seen him since just before Christmas.

I visited the library to take some things back and ended up loaning a few CDs and the film Moon, which I've wanted to see for a while. I also got my hair cut and took a batch of magazines to a couple of charity shops for them to sell. So all in all I've had quite a good, productive day.

Happy Mothering Sunday

Happy Mothers Day to all of you who have children. Yesterday we had to leave the house early, we needed to get to the tyre place so that my wife could get her tyres looked at. The mechanic advised that her rear ones were fine but that the two front ones were probably worth changing. When she had the MOT test in January they said the tyres would need to be changed soon and the fact that she hadn't changed them was weighing on her mind, I've been driving us in preference to using her car for longer journeys. But today, she is driving my daughter to a judo competition quite a long way away and wanted new tyres for such a journey. I think the tracking was out because she was saying it wasn't going in a straight line, so we got that done too.
Leaving the house early meant we could get into town sooner than we normally do. It was 8.30am and most shops don't open until 9:30am except newsagents and bigger stores like WHSmith and Marks & Spencer. My wife wanted new trousers and my daughter wanted some pens so they went off while my son and I visited McDonalds for breakfast. I like an occasional breakfast there.
Our library opens at 9:30am on Saturdays, so we visited that and I was lucky to pick up the Halo Legends DVD (I like the Halo universe stories/games) for loan. Last week I was lucky to find a Dio live DVD in the withdrawn stock but there wasn't anything that I fancied there this week. Sometimes they hang on to withdrawn audiovisual material and have a big stock sale, which I love because I enjoy the serendipity of finding a rarity amongst all the popular stuff.
The weather is getting warmer and nights are getting shorter, I like when the seasons change. I especially like looking forward to the summer.
The new Formula 1 season gets off to a start today, I enjoy motor racing even though my wife can't see the point of watching anything but the last lap!
I'm only working 3 days next week, so I'm looking forward to thinking about other things than work.
Finally, my son bought himself a green Star Wars Clone Wars lightsabre yesterday. He loves it. It doesn't light up or anything but it does fully collapse into its holder. It's pretty cool, I almost bought one for myself (never having had one as a kid) but I held myself back: I'd always have to play the bad guys! We'll see how long it lasts for without breaking and maybe buy him a light up one for his birthday in September.
The UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest was selected by the British public last night. Josh Dubovie sings the song and he is described as a "teenage sensation" (like they usually are). I'll have to post an entry just about the Eurovision Song Contest in the next few weeks. I watch it every year.

Sometimes only meat, fat and carbohydrates will do

Funny how this morning there was nothing perceptibly wrong with me. I dropped the children off for school, visited a store and picked up my regular music magazine and some rolls and sausages. At home I ate a couple of rolls and sausages before starting work. And I felt much better afterwards. How crazy is that?

Horror spoof The Exorcist

I enjoyed the spoofs that French and Saunders used to do, this one always makes me chuckle.

Oscar 2010

It's that time of year again for the Oscar ceremony. I wonder who will be victorious tonight? I hope the following get some awards:

• Avatar
• District 9
• Inglourious Basterds
• Up

 I haven't seen many of the films nominated, I've only seen the two above. I think Avatar should win just for its trailers, they were pretty awesome. Up and Inglourious Bs were great fun to watch, while District 9 just sounds exactly like the kind of film I'd like to see (trailer good too). I'd also really like to see The Hurt Locker so I hope that gets an Oscar. In a way, I would like Hurt Locker to win best picture over Avatar like it did with the BAFTAs. Avatar must be the favourite though but it would be good for a female director to win an Oscar and does James Cameron need any more awards to prove he's great?

Alice

We spent this morning at the Odeon cinema in town, watching the 3D version of Alice in Wonderland.

I can't remember the last time I saw a 3D film at the cinema, not having seen Avatar yet. The illusion of 3D works very well though and I forgot I was wearing the spectacles during large segments of the film. The black plastic glasses Blues Brothers style spectacles work much better than those cardboard ones I remember from my youth: the ones with a blue "lens" for one eye and a red "lens" for the other eye. You could sort of watch the film without the glasses on because the colours were the same however there was a double image effect. In old 3D movies everything kind of looked green I remember, except for a red tinged outline.

I don't recall reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass all the way through as a child but I have been exposed to parts of the stories before. I've read excerpts for comprehension exercises in school and I've seen other films so kind of knew what to expect. I think Tim Burton has done a brilliant job, he has come up with a film that I could enjoy watching again using a story I never really liked very much. Or I should say using elements of different stories because it's not a "true" film adaptation of the original book. It doesn't pretend to be either, it kind of updates the story from the book and gives it a better, more coherent, structure that I prefer to be honest. The actors and voice actors all do a fine job.

Action theme songs

I used to like playing with toy guns as a child. I had a few, not a great many but enough. I played with other children down my street. We played a variety of different types of games based on film or TV characters of the time. My favourites were shows like The Professionals and James Bond. These had great theme songs that inspired me to play at being a spy or a paramilitary person. I moved on from play to reading novels by Ian Fleming and Tom Clancy, and have moved back to play with the advent of realistic videogames like Modern Warfare. Here are a few of the themes I enjoyed as a kid, imagine me in my bedroom singing these and pretending it's me in the opening credits.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, one of the best themes for Bond I think. I like the film but it's not my all time favourite Bond.

The Professionals, I loved this show. Bodie was my favourite character. I loved the way the actors would look up and the picture would freeze during the opening credits.


The Hawaii Five-O theme, a classic.


The Man from U.N.C.L.E. theme (embedding disabled). These were rarely shown on TV when I was a kid, maybe they shown late but I really loved them. My brother had the annuals and I pored over them, fascinated by the two characters and the mysterious U.N.C.L.E. agency.

Mission Impossible, I enjoyed these as a kid. The theme is now a classic because of the advertisements that have used it.


The New Avengers, I liked the drums on this one.


The A Team: I was getting older but I still enjoyed the A Team theme.



The Sweeney: a tough cop show featuring John Thaw who later played Inspector Morse (Colin Dexter's Morse books are very good apparently but I haven't read them myself).


The Persuaders theme (embedding disabled) a show I don't really remember much about but I always liked the theme however it's not one I could hum.
The Avengers were a little strange and troubling as a child (I must only have saw repeats) but the theme was really strong.


For a childrens sci-fi series I thought the opening credits of The Tomorrow People were great.


Blakes 7 was an adult sci-fi series that had a great theme song. I enjoyed acting this out.


The UFO theme was excellent, I saw this show a few times and it terrified me as a kid.


Actually, now I've pulled this list together there are a few other great themes I loved that didn't quite make it to this list: The Equalizer, Quincey, Miami Vice, The Rockford Files, Magnum P.I. and Starsky and Hutch to name but a few near the top of the list.