Frightfest

I've been recording Film4's Frightfest films to watch at my leisure, a series of horror films to tie in with the festival in London. I'm looking forward to Re-Animator, Day Of The Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, 28 Days Later, The Blair Witch Project, The Descent, Vault of Horror and Ju-On 1 and 2 (The Japanese, and best, version of The Grudge). I haven't been to the film festival in London but some of the films look really good. This is one of the problems with having a full time job - not enough time off to enjoy life outside of work.

I don't have a all consuming dark nature to watch so many horror films - its just that the season is on and I'm taking advantage: it will take me a few weeks to watch them all and by then it will be Halloween: something else to look forward to! Let's face it, the English Summer is now over so there isn't much else to look forward to but Halloween and then Christmas.

A Roundup for August so far

We bought ourselves a DVD Recorder recently and for me its been like discovering video recorders again for the first time. I'm recording quite a few films and even though I thought our DVD collection was good, it's improving with the films I'm recording. I'm pleasantly surprised that so many great films are shown on TV: The Thomas Crown Affair (Steve McQueen version), Wargames, Unbreakable, Day of the Dead, Hellboy and The Mummy to name but a few in the last couple of weeks. This week I see that The Descent, X2, The Blair Witch Project, Terminator 2 and 28 Days Later are on. We did watch a strange horror film from the 1970s last week called Incense For The Damned, a vampire tale very heavily edited at the start - so much that it was quite comical. Not a film I could recommend unless you have some time to kill.

My wife bought me a nice surprise last week: Guitar Hero III for the Wii. My daughter and I have been flexing our fingers and rocking out in the sitting room. It's a great game and the controller works fantastically well. The music is great too.

I finished reading Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and now I'm reading the 4th in the Op Centre series (Acts of War), it's a very exciting read. I've also begun the first volume of the complete Judge Dredd comic strips. I always remember seeing a drawing of Judge Dredd on his motorcycle and thinking that his bike was really cool. It had spikes on the wheels and it was the first time I had ever seen that.

Team GB are doing well in the Olympics considering we are such a small nation. I've enjoyed watching the coverage on the TV.

Wall-E

We took the children to watch this film today at the cinema. It was my wife's idea. There was a short animated film at the beginning about a magician and his rabbit. My 5 year old son absolutely loved it, laughed his head off he did! That was great. The main attraction was Wall-E. I've been aware of the hype recently, everywhere I go or every advert I watch seems to have the robot depicted somewhere. I had only read one brief review of the film before watching it but I think my wife was more exposed to it than I. The story is about man filling Earth up with junk and blasting off into space for a massive exodus vacation while the Wall-E robots clean the Earth up and make it habitable once more. However, as time goes by the vacation turns out to be much, much longer - like 700 years! By then, everyone's bones have gotten smaller since they just sit around on hover chairs constantly watching their personal screens infront of their noses. They get their daily nutrition from big drink cartons that robots are only to happy to supply after the slightest request. Meanwhile, Wall-E has been on Earth keeping it clean as the sole robot of his type. He has made a home for himself and a cockroach. His world is changed when he falls in love with another robot dropped off on Earth to check for signs of vegetation capable of sustaining human life. This other robot is super-sophisticated compared to Wall-E but somehow they fall in love and have to save humanity from the comfort and sloth of life on board the big pleasure cruiser. I thought the best part of the film was the scale of the worlds created by the animators. The detail was incredible, always is with Pixar, but on such a scale it was fascinated viewing. Particularly the first half hour on Earth which was mainly just Wall-E without talking. To keep the audience engaged for such a length of time without any dialogue in the script, was truly a magnificent feat in itself. My wife had read a review talking about it being the best film ever made (or words to that effect). It's certainly not that, but I thought it was a very enjoyable film and one for both adults and children to enjoy.

Work, Work and More Work!

I haven't mentioned this before but since the end of Spring I've been doing two jobs: trying to keep my own job going as well as looking after some of my managers stuff while he works on a new big project. Stepping up into a managers shoes is probably good experience for me, career-wise. However, the financial rewards aren't that great and in terms of what takes my time these days, you could say that I'm losing out on leisure time big style. This is the main reason I've not been here very often this year. Its a sad fact I'm afraid. I will try to be here more often because the work-life balance has to be in place, right? Next week, I have some time off, so I will be looking forward to relaxing.

A few months ago, I was browsing in a book shop and I saw a book that I knew a friend of mine would enjoy. I wasn't sure if he had it already but I bought it anyway - it called out to me. I put it on a shelf at home and forgot about it. Before I had thought about it more than a couple of times, my friend's birthday was upon me and I took it into town to post to him, luckily I had some free time on that day. It turns out that my friend enjoyed the book, he hadn't got it already and so it all turned out well. I like it when things like that happen, I rarely see something I know for a fact someone will like and buy it in advance of their birthday. I should do more of this, it would save worrying about what to get for someone near to their birthday.

Here comes the rain again

It absolutely heaved it down with rain this morning, I could even hear thunder. It has stopped now and the sun has come out. I wonder what this afternoon has in store?

Forgot to mention that yesterday we had a shopping trip and spent far too much. I got a couple of Wii games for the kids stockings this Christmas and I picked up a bargain DVD of John Carpenter's The Thing, a film I've always enjoyed when its been on the TV but never owned.

Bad Habits

On the food front, I've started to slip with my healthier eating - one too many burgers and chocolate thingies. I hope I can stop myself before going any further down this road because if I don't stop I'll just put back all the weight I lost.

I had a good idea today but I've completely forgotten what it was! It was a business idea or something like that, I was thinking of just changing the business model for it and reaping the rewards financially. I've forgotten what IT was though! Typical!

The good news is that we finally managed to see someone about getting a better savings plan this weekend. She was good, our fear was that she would be just trying to sell more of a particular financial product to make up sales figures for the month but instead she actually went on the web and looked at competitors rates and told us honestly what she thought. She accepted that some of our money was best left with a competitor. I hope we get her again when we need advice. She was also good with the kids, who decided to go a bit loopy.

On Saturday we watched the annual Roald Dahl street procession. There were the usual great models - this year the theme was The Twits.

Glasto Nearly Upon Us

According to the Glastonbury Festival countdown clock right now as I type there are 11 hours and 1 minute until the festival gates open. I've never been to Glastonbury Festival but I do have some fond memories of some of the performances I've seen from the TV coverage. It's good that they cover it on TV nowadays, when I was younger it was never broadcast on TV - it might have been on the radio I suppose, but I never heard it if it was.

I did attend a festival for a few years running in the early/mid 90s. The music lineup was really good and I saw some great acts. But the downside was that I didn't have any friends to go with and so I felt a bit lonely on my own, as everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves with friends and generally having a big party, staying up into the early hours, sleeping most of the day etc. I have some good photographs I took of the people and one day I'll have to scan them in and post them up here. I was afraid of being in my tent alone at night, having the stuff in my tent stolen and all sorts of violent thoughts go through your mind. But there are some really nice things too: the people are generally very friendly, you see lots of people with weird and wonderful tattoos and piercings, strange looking hairstyles and clothes - and you get to see some strange behaviours too - whether drug induced or not. I would recommend at least trying one music festival out during your lifetime.

I hope the weather stays dry for the people this year.

A Sunday in June

I've found this month a difficult one to blog. Quite a lot of things are happening this month, my daughter's birthday for one. She received an early present from her grandma. A new bicycle, it's bigger than her old favourite and its quite heavy. The saddle is as low as it can get and she can't reach the floor properly when she sits on it, her tiptoes do but not the whole of her feet. Yesterday, we found a great place to cycle: it's a track between two villages that used to be a railway line but is now a special track for cyclists. Some traces of the railway still exist, like the platforms but they are all grassed over and you can barely tell. It was a great place to try the new bike out. My daughter has fits of tears when she has to learn something new, she fell into a patch of stinging nettles and stung the side of her hand. I didn't think she would get back on the bike after that but she eventually did. Her next challenge was to push off and get herself going without me holding the saddle. After several miles and lots of tears and coaching she eventually did it and instantly brightened up. We went from despair to triumph and almost over-confidence instantly!

I was woken up with some excitement in the house on Sunday. I had completely forgotten it was Father's Day. The family congregated around me as I groggily woke up and found their expectant faces eager for me to wake up and seize the day. I didn't feel like seizing anything except more sleep but I tried to hide my tiredness. I was given some really nice gifts and it was a lovely surprise, I love my family. I couldn't go back to sleep but by the evening I was good for nothing, all that running after my daughter on her bicycle.

Oh Sunny Day

Unusually for England in June, the weather hasn't been so bad so far. Sunday and Monday were absolutely lovely. Let's hope it continues a bit longer than forecast (Thursday and on to the weekend doesn't look so good). This week I finally converted my Club Nintendo stars into something useful - points to spend in the Wii shop. We don't make a lot of use of the Wii's online potential: sometimes looking at news and the weather channels, sometimes playing strangers at Wii Chess, sometimes entering Mii competitions and judging other entrants and sometimes playing multiplayer races on Mariokart Wii. This week though, I used the stars I've earned through buying games and converted them into Wii Points Cards and have accumulated the 500 points needed to download the Internet Channel. This is a web browser on the Wii. So I can watch You Tube on my TV and read blogs and so on. There are also games sites that allow you to play free online Flash games on the Wii. I don't think I'll be writing much on the Internet Channel though because typing on the Wii is a bit like trying to type with one finger on a keyboard your not used to: painful.

Eurovision 2008 Result

Well, it's over. It will be held in Moscow next year because Russia won last night. It wasn't the best song in the competition and a lot will be said elsewhere about the predictability of the voting so I'm not going to harp on about it here. I judged along with my daughter and I found it quite difficult, the scoring sheet I downloaded had columns for song, performance, dance routine and outfit. The hardest thing for any judge is consistency and the need to identify and correct any bias in your own mind. After a few beers I must admit that my powers to judge accurately were seriously affected, as you can see from my top 5 below. The only way I can defend Spain finishing second is to say that after watching 21 other Eurovision songs prior to hearing it, my mind was mixed up. On reflection this morning, the Russian song isn't as bad as I remember.

In general, although I'm disappointed with the position of the UK entry - countries can't vote for themselves - at the end of the day I'm not that upset with the show. I realise that's naive to an extent but if the show rules were changed then it wouldn't be the spectacle that it is.

1. Greece
2. Spain
3. Norway
4. Ukraine
5. Turkey, Azerbaijan

 

The actual results were:

1. Russia
2. Ukraine
3. Greece
4. Armenia
5. Norway

 

My winner (Greece) (official video, not performance on the night):

Actual winner Russia (official video, not performance on the night):

 

My second place Spain (official video, not performance on the night):

 

Actual second place (official video, not performance on the night):

Eurovision tomorrow!

I'm looking forward to the competition tomorrow. I've spoken before about this subject:

• When the UK finalist was chosen for this year
• My top 3 songs from the 2007 competition
• The 2006 competition results
• My first mention of the competition on this blog back in 2005

So in true time honoured fashion this post is dedicated to Eurovision 2008. I can't wait to buy some comfort food and just veg out on the sofa. A great way to spend a Saturday evening on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Great Wall

The awful events in Burma and China have brought home to me how vulnerable we all are really. My wife and I were discussing The Great Wall of China just before the weekend. Her grandma walked it as a pensioner (apparently), I thought it was too long to walk but didn't know anything about it: except that it is the only man made structure visible from space - I had somehow lodged that fact in my brain. The Wall has always fascinated me, the beauty of it, the brutality of the work (over a million people died in its construction) and the pointlessness of it to an extent. I hope that relief gets to the people who need it and fast.

Maybe Not!

After Friday's triumphant declaration it appears that problems with the PC rose their ugly head again on Saturday. It's been 3 years since I put the system together and its been in constant use, even so, its not ancient. My wife was seriously annoyed by the lack of stability of it and we both decided we couldn't do without a properly working home computer, so we did something that I've never done before. We visited PC World! We firstly wrote down all of the applications we regularly use and some things that we like doing like photo editing and storage, music storage and playback, shopping online, watching video online and so on - the list goes on but its pretty standard family stuff we probably all do. So we took the list with us and spoke to a person. To clarify what I have never done before, I have bought other stuff at PC World, but this time I actually trusted someone else to tell us what to buy. I haven't the time to keep on top of all the processors and issues anymore, so I allowed myself to be guided by someone who hadn't long left school. He seemed intelligent enough and was willing to offer us deals so that we could take away a machine that day - I wanted to capture video from my camcorder and the machine he was recommending didn't have a firewire card, so he offered to install one along with replacing the graphics card with a more beefed-up one. We ended up buying a machine with a dual core quad processor thingymajig, which apparently usually is something you'd expect to find in a 1000 pound plus machine. We had a max limit of half that so we did well and we didn't need a monitor either, so saved a few pounds there. It was ready really quickly and we had it home in less than 2 hours, which was great because we had a good morning in town at the library and weren't rushing around to cram everything in - we strolled around PC World just after lunch. The other amusing thing was that my wife recognised the salesman as the brother of a boy she teaches.

It took me all night to move files and settings and stuff from the old PC to the new, its not as smooth a process as it could be and Windows has some limitations in the way it operates. We have now to get used to a new version of Windows (Vista), which isn't proving to be too hard thankfully.

The funny thing is, I working now on the machine that wasn't working yesterday! So far it is behaving itself today, which is quite annoying on one level and on another level I'm quite grateful because we needed files and stuff and will probably need to keep it going for a few months until we're sure everything is on the new one.

Mr Fixit Strikes Again

I'm known in the family as the computer expert. I can qualify this comment by saying that I'm not an expert, I just know a bit more than other members of the family. The latest episode has been related to a speed issue with our family workhorse computer. This computer is where I do my blogging, video capturing, iTunes storing etc. and my wife does her research and watches TV programmes on it and so on. You name it, this is our general main computer in the house for it. So it's switched on most of the time. We're not known for compulsive cleaning in our house, dusting is not something we do generally and neither is ironing. So anyway, we've been experiencing 24 hours of snail pace computing - literally it taking five minutes after clicking on something for the computer to do anything. It was showing less signs of life than a Zombie. We were even at the stage where we were preparing to buy another computer. Reasoning dictated to me a course of action whereupon I disconnected all cables and opened up the computer box. The hot weather we have been experiencing lately has exacerbated the problem. My thinking was based on a pop-up notification from a processor temperature monitor program that said something to the  effect that the processor was getting too hot and the fan speed was raised while reducing the throughput of work that the processor did. All this mumbo jumbo told me was that the brain in our PC was getting overheated. I cleaned out the box not so long ago, as I experienced similar problems when processing 60 minutes of video from our camcorder over a period of about 7 hours! To cut to the nub, I took the PC shell outside and used my wife's hairdryer on cold air setting to blow all the dust from the motherboard and the fans on the power supply and GPU and what I could reach of the CPU fan. Funnily enough that seems to have cured the problem and we can once more use our workhorse. Thank goodness because all of our links, email, documents, music, photos and video are on this machine and getting it all back on to a new computer would have been a nightmare. I know we should backup frequently but who does?

An Air Of Summer

Things are looking up for England on the weather front this week. We have had some really lovely hot sunshine for the past three days now and it is set to continue until Friday. Its so nice for the kids to go outside and play in the garden after school, rather than be stuck in the house watching TV. We don't make enough of our garden, never have really. So this year I'd like to get outside a little bit more. On the outdoors theme, I'm not your typical outdoors kind of man. This may sound like a contradiction considering my previous statement but my natural environment is indoors - usually infront of a computer or videogame. Well, we visited a garden centre on Sunday on the way back from Collectormania and in addition to buying some soil for pot plants, some plants and various bits and pieces, I bought myself a new garden strimmer. It's a 2-stroke petrol job that has a starter cord you pull. It has a great tickover rumble to it, a bit like a chainsaw in Doom or something, and it is really loud when you full throttle it. Infact, I didn't quite realise exactly HOW LOUD it was until this morning when I woke up and couldn't hear a damn thing in my right ear. Seriously, I was deafened by silence. I don't know if that's possible but there definitely felt like I had something over my ear all morning. Next time I use the strimmer, I will either have earplugs or ear defenders on.

Last thing for tonight, is a link to a website where you can watch people from all over the world enjoying games on their Wii.

Collectormania 2008

My wife has an autograph collection, she writes off for them occasionally and we some good ones. Today we visited The Centre at Milton Keynes to go and see Collectormania. I've written about this event before and always enjoy visiting it. There is a marketplace (see photos below) and there is a whole section devoted to stars and their fans who queue up dressed in long black leather coats and other such attire, I love it. As a family with young children its quite frustrating when all you really want to do is go and queue and have your photo taken with Linda Blair but you can't because when you have children queueing is the last thing in the world that they understand and want to do. So on one hand it's a little disappointing but on the other, I just love seeing so much STUFF devoted to the TV shows and films I love. Its great to be with so many other people who share a love of horror and SF. It makes me want to go and watch some films now, bye bye film fans!

Sunshine Saturday

My wife had mentioned that it would be nice to get away to the seaside over this Bank Holiday weekend (we get Monday off from work as a public holiday). Traditionally, lots of people do and my fear was of traffic jams in the rush to get away. This may have been pessimistic of me as the traffic is usually most dense on the Friday evening as everyone leaves work a little earlier to then begin their journeys for the weekend. It was still up in the air exactly what we were going to do on Saturday morning but since we're usually up at 6am (or rather the children and my wife are usually up, I have the good sense to stay in bed until at least 6.30) there was still time time to get ready and leave. The coast is just under 2 hours away, so its not so bad if the traffic is light. Well, as you can see from the pictures, the weather was very good. We decided to go to Brighton, it has a pebbly beach and a pier which has a funfair on it. We had a go at the penny shove machines, spent about 10 pounds in two pence pieces - those machines always win in the end but you think you're going to get lucky because all the coins bunch up and look like they're going to drop, if just one more were to push them. BUT they never do! After our supply of coins dried up we moved on. Luckily for us, this weekend is the Brighton Festival and there was a great procession of children and drums and models in the theme of children's games and toys. The toy photos below were shot with my phone and there is a cat from the game Cats Cradle but I must admit I'm not sure which game the dragon could be from, I did manage to guess a few others though like Monopoly and the May Pole.

Holding up the mirror

I've spoken many times about TV shows I like, one of these is called The Apprentice and I'm enjoying it very much again this season. It's what you'd call a reality TV show, it's very well edited and put together. I was just thinking and reflecting about my performance at work today. I sometimes get feedback but I don't get it all the time. And although I might be a harsher self-critic than my colleagues, it would be good to be able to see myself and make some adjustments as I go along to make sure I'm hitting the right note or chord with people. I guess this is a luxury only people on the TV have as they work.

My main point is we sometimes get too close (or too into) to a subject to be able to pull back and see the effect we have on others - or see the knowing glances and smiles between others that give away what they think (rather than what they don't say). Picking up on these clues is very difficult when you're in the thick of the action.

My natural inclination is to observe and interject when I feel I can contribute, which sometimes makes me invisible in a room full of large personalities. At school and even now, when I feel the need to speak up in a room full of people I feel a certain nervousness or rush of adrenalin that makes my heart beat faster: I sometimes end up saying something different to what I was thinking because in the distance between my brain and my mouth the logic behind my point gets muddled as the words come out and I can hear what I'm saying rather than hearing what I'm thinking. Does any of this make sense?

April Nearly Done

My blogging performance has dropped quite dramatically this month I see. That's not good. Today though, the gloom was lifted by the installation of a new shower in our house. We have put up with our old shower for 8 years and that is enough by anyone's standards. The new shower runs straight off the boiler so it has better temperature and water pressure (we'll know in the morning rush hour tomorrow!). So, yeah I'm looking forward to returning to showering rather than bathing, which I have been doing everyday for the best part of a year. It's better on the environment than bathing, I do like a good soak (but not everyday). We just have to tidy up a few tiles which were left bare after the old shower was removed.

On Saturday I bought the family a Wii Fit balance board. It's really a very nice and pleasant way to tune up the body. The Yoga section is my favourite and the balance games are good fun too - especially the hula hoop, which had me laughing out loud watching my 5 yr old son trying it.

The sun has been making appearances recently, I'm so glad I bought myself a pair of sunglasses when I got my glasses. Driving is much easier when your not squinting with the light.

Creativity

I came to the conclusion this morning that I need to bring some creativity into my life. Everyone needs a balance of things in their life: love, friendship, fruit and veg, laughter and play, exercise, sense of purpose and productivity and also creativity. We get some creativity by enjoying the creative efforts of others, through entertainment of various sorts, and some of us can enjoy being creative in lots of different ways: cooking, while we're at work (if its possible) and what we wear or things we buy. In my case, the creative need goes a little bit more basic - its a need to create something - whether a piece of writing or a drawing. I want to train myself to produce a drawing or some writing everyday. That feels like it will be very hard but I think it is something I have to find time to do.

Where has all the time gone?

Wow, it's almost mid-April. Can you believe that? I've been working like a dog recently and its not going to change for the foreseeable future. My wife has also been working hard, using this computer, working late into the night so time for blogging has been severely restricted. I guess also because I've just been working there hasn't really been anything to post about.

I have been listening to a lot of classical music on the radio though. It seems to calm me down a lot actually, I never thought about music as a calming force before. Perhaps there is something about listening to classical music that forces you to listen in a different way than you would to pop or rock for instance. I can't really describe what I mean just that I feel different listening to classical than I do when I listen to pop or rock. The biggest difference is that I sing along loudly to pop or rock but usually I just enjoy thinking about what kind of creature or world classical music conjures up. A nice piece of music I like hearing is The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, you can imagine a bird dancing from branch to branch in the early morning when you hear that violin, give it a try and you'll see what I mean. If you hear Mars from the Planet Suite by Holst, I can imagine an invasion fleet of spacecraft led by Ming The Merciless from Flash Gordon.

I took the children up to my parents yesterday and returned today. Its nice to visit my folks and take the day off. I did look at my work email though and made a call. Its really difficult to switch off completely from work, I feel somehow obligated beyond the call of duty. The weather on the roads started off being lovely and sunny (I wore my sunglasses) but later in the journey the heavens opened and I've never known it to rain so hard and fast in so short an amount of time. My wipers on their fastest setting didn't clear the rain as quickly as it was coming down. Everyone on the motorway had to slow down, I'm just glad that they were sensible and did slow down, it would have been awful to have been involved in an accident in such dreadful weather.

Gnawing Hunger

I have some food under the grill as I type and I'm SOOO hungry, the smell is driving me wild. Chicken tikka kebabs, my own variety: pretty good but I realise I risk sounding conceited, have no fear I'm no great cook. I cook a tuna pasta bake for my kids that comes out of a jar, tastes nice though and they like it. I wish I was one of those people who can make something remarkable out of seemingly nothing - a potato, an onion, a bit of bacon and a few spices but I'm not.

Why does food take longer to cook when your hungry or your in a hurry. Have you ever made a decision to cook something before you had to go out and found that the cooking took longer than you expected? I've done this a few times, annoying isn't it? You eventually turn the gas or electric off and serve it up only to realise you have left approximately a minute and a half to eat it. I'm a fast eater but I would prefer just a few extra minutes to ENJOY the food I just bothered to cook.

With some foods, like chicken, you have to be sure it is cooked. I like my chicken, actually all the meat I eat, to be well-cooked and I'm not talking about black just that I like it to have a good appetising colour. I fry chicken with cashew nuts, terriyaki sauce and a little drizzle of honey and I like to boil off the sauce so it leaves the chicken a rich golden brown colour. I dislike bland white chicken, it has no colour.

Right, now I'm REALLY hungry I just better stop myself here and attend to the grill - what's worse: hovering by the grill or writing about food? I've got to know, talk to you laters x

Giant Insects

What if? The human race might have had its time. There is worldwide panic over an insect as large as a house that attacked humans along the coast of Western Australia. 300 humans were killed by the bug that's been branded SuperBug. Experts are mystified about the predator but are warning that it might be a new species that has evolved and that it might not be the last we see or hear of this kind of attack. Some experts are arguing that if these super-sized insects breed as fast as other insects the entire world population of humans could be at risk. Military personnel on scene are trying to pinpoint the location of the SuperBug that appeared in Australia. People in the affected area have been warned to stay in their houses with their windows closed. Eye witness reports tell horrifying stories of people being sucked out of their cars and off the street by a pointed tube-like structure coming from the insect's mouth. One man said the insect came out of nowhere and attacked a group of children, seriously injuring three and leaving three in intensive care. Two more children are feared missing, unconfirmed reports say that they were in the area at the time. The world's entomological experts are in talks with military leaders at the UN Headquarters, we'll bring you more on this story as it comes in.

People of Substance

Do you think writers and artists either know or have some inkling that their body of work will survive after their death? On one level its a no brainer: of course a book or painting is not alive so it doesn't die when its creator dies but does it allow the creator to live on in other people? I mean, take Shakespeare or an artist like Monet: their work inspires new people in different generations to create art that draws upon the influence of their original work and so allow the originators to live on in an ethereal sense. Whatever it is that makes an artist or a writer (not necessarily just fiction) survive through generations must be some kind of substance, something substantial about them and their work. I think about this in the context of everyday life, these people must have led ordinary lives - had to complete daily functional tasks we all do like getting washed and dressed, shopping for food, eating etc. and yet they managed to surpass the ordinary somehow to produce great works (even if not recognised as such at the time). I worry sometimes about how I spend my time. I listen to the radio, watch the TV, read magazines, play videogames, plus all the necessary stuff as well as be a father, son and husband and frankly there is precious little time to create anything of substance. When I was in my youth I had lots of time to write - too much time and very little life experience. At times I was deeply lonely and unhappy but writing was something that I could always enjoy. My dilemma, if you want to call it that, is that I want to write but I have so little time to myself and there is so much entertainment out there to consume. I struggle with creative expression vs entertainment consumption.

Do you think that there are blogs that exist created by people who are now dead? I think there must be some out there. Some by people whose death was unexpected, some by people who knew they were dying. I just had a thought for the gap in the search engine market - a directory of blogs by dead people.

I wonder if anyone in the future will be remembered by their blog? Could a blog inspire other people creatively in the way a novel or a poem could? I don't see why not but I don't feel the Internet has any sense of permanence about it - we link to a lot of hosting sites and who knows how the Internet will change in future. Our content could get dissipated and deleted without warning at any time. The Internet will cease to exist as we know it now and it will become something else, I feel certain about this, the net at the moment is an embryo and I don't know what the adult will be.

Easter weekend

IEaster went by really quickly, the sleet and snow was a bit of a disappointment and stopped us going further afield on Sunday and Monday. But on Saturday, three of our families went into London to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play a concert for families at the Royal Albert Hall. This was the programme:

Rossini - William Tell Overture: Galop

Prokofiev - March of the Capulets from Romeo and Juliet

Elfman arr. Bankey - The Simpsons Main Theme

Tchaikovsky - Trepak from The Nutcracker

Khachaturian - Sabre Dance

Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walkure

Williams - Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter

Williams - Superman Main Theme

It sounded like a CD, the performance was perfect. We sat one row back from the front in the stalls and although we didn't have a view of the whole orchestra like a balcony seat would have given us, it was nice to see the faces of the musicians at the front as they played. We would not have been able to see their faces so clearly from another seat. It was just the right length for the children too and the choice of music was great: I have a new appreciation of The Simpsons theme - it was a really complicated piece of music.

Last time I posted I mentioned my new spectacles, well here is the photo of me wearing them at last.

Easter weekend

At last, some time off from work and family time beckons. It's been a very busy time for me at work and I have need of a good rest.

I don't have very much to say, just that I hope everyone has a great weekend this Easter.

Weather and other stuff

It's been stormy for the last few days here in the UK. Not snowing but its very cold, windy and has been raining. Severe weather warnings have been posted threatening of stormy winds and flooding. It's all a bit depressing really - and I have a sore throat.

I have some new spectacles, one of the chains was advertising 2 for 1 on designer frames and as I needed my eyes tested anyway I took advantage. The optician was very nice but my prescription hadn't changed enough to need new spectacles. However, I decided I needed a new pair of frames and went ahead anyway; I got a nice pair of spectacles for wearing "out" and a pair of sunglasses for the summer (well, for anytime really: except night!). I just need to find occasions to wear my smart new FCUK designer frames!

I'm staying late for work today, which means an overnighter in a hotel. I don't like to be separated from my family even just for 1 night. Oh well, I checked the travel times and can't get back in time so I'll just have to make it up to them by giving them more love when I get back.

I do have some days off in the remainder of this month, I think I'll do some exploring in London on Friday - that's something to look forward to and will take my mind off being away!

Britain's Eurovision Song Entry

Well, the die has been cast now - on Saturday evening the public voted for the British Eurovision song entry for 2008. It was a choice of two songs:

• Woo Hoo Yeah (You Make Me) by Michelle Gayle (I'm not sure if this is the correct title but you get the idea)
• Even If by Andy Abraham

 

Last year's entry was chosen entirely by the public and it was bad, even by Eurovision standards. This year they did things slightly differently and had some studio judges choosing the shortlist of 2 for the public vote out of a total of 4 acts. Well, it was only ever a choice of 2 wasn't it? Love Shy and The Revelations had catchy enough tunes but performance-wise it helps, I think, if you can actually sing!

So we have Andy Abraham representing Britain. He's got a great voice and is a lovely man I'm sure. He's clearly the most able vocalist out of the bunch and he wrote the song himself. I hope he wins it - he deserves the success. I preferred the song out of all of them and I don't have any reservations about packing him off to Serbia or wherever the competition is this year. However, I must confess to a strong feeling I have that none of the shortlisted songs I heard this week are competition winners: we just don't make 'em like we used to.

Alexander Graham Bell

I see from the Google logo today that it is the anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell's birthday. Well, here's a short video in his honour by one of the best Glam Rock bands of the 1970s, The Sweet.

 

Alexander Graham Bell also invented the metal detector and had his finger in the pies of hydrofoils and aeronautics - see here for a more knowledgeable account of his life.

The Wii

I don't think I mentioned in this blog that we bought our kids a Wii at Christmas. We were lucky to get one I know. Having lived with it for a couple of months and having played it regularly but not fanatically (at least once a week) I thought I'd give you a few of my impressions as a game enthusiast but also as a father. One of the first things we did was play Wii Sports, this package actually comes with the Wii when you buy it and it's a lot of fun - especially the bowling game for young children. My 7 year old likes to play tennis with me and I've enjoyed the golf game a bit on my own. We don't play the boxing game very much though, that is the least liked one. The Mii creation aspect of the Wii is what my kids love - you create these living kind of avatars called Miis. Once your done you can save them and see them walking about on their own in the Mii Plaza where you can also pick them up and organise them according to your needs. There is a channel called the Mii Contest Channel where you can judge Miis that people have created according to a theme and you can make and submit your own Miis for others to judge. You then get to see where your creation ranked and how well it fit the theme. It's a very simple but elegant type of play. Take a look at the video at the kinds of variety you can discover in Miis.

 

My recommendation for expanding your Wii game library would be Super Mario Galaxy, here's a clip of the exciting gameplay: its one of those games that my kids enjoy watching as much as playing (which is very fortunate Mwhaha!)

Take the Work out of you work-day

Have a good Friday and be glad the weekend is almost here.

 

Night of the Living Dead

I don't think I've sat through all of this film before. It's always called a horror classic. I've seen lots of "zombie" films and they all unnerve me in some ways. However, with so many references to zombies in TV adverts, music videos, videogames and the like, my emotions are a bit dulled. However, I can still partially see through my preconceptions enough to understand that this film didn't explain the flesh eating living dead as zombies and at the time the film was made the idea was probably new and groundbreaking. A failed satellite probe from Venus has spread a new and powerful type of radiation that causes the recently deceased to get up and start craving for living flesh. There is no more real explanation in the film but the TV and radio footage shown is believable because even the authorities are unable to explain the phenomenon. Even when you hope events are over at the end of the film there is a shock, a bleak end to what is even now in today's world a bleak film. I don't care to analyse the film anymore and I'm sure others have put many interpretations on it. But the timing is perfect, the pace is wonderful and the acting is superb. How much better it would have been if it were shot in colour I can't say, maybe the black and white even adds to the films power. It's a horror classic and deserves a place high on the all time best list.

Run Fat Boy Run

I rented this DVD last week and enjoyed it. David Schwimmer directed it and did a good job at keeping the pacing right - it never feels laboured or slow and there are a good number of laughs evenly spaced throughout. Simon Pegg is his usual lovely self as the anti-romantic romantic lead and the whole cast was brilliantly recruited - each adding a little something of their own special quality to their parts. The story might not appeal if you were to read a synopsis and as a story you could read many levels of interpretation into it but the light-hearted interpretation the cast and director want you to understand shines through pulling this film up into the good category. Worthy of a watch if you feel like a light film that will make you chuckle.

Monday Grumps

I took the selfish and greedy decision to take Friday off last week and was even more selfish and hateful because I haven't looked at my work email for three days. Yet last night I was thinking so much about work that I couldn't get to sleep until after 2am. Now I'm tired and the only good thing so far is that it is sunny and bright this morning. It's horrible feeling guilty just because I had a day off.

Downstairs Analysis

During my ablutions this morning (I usually think a lot during my ablutions), I considered how nice it must be for those celebrities who can afford for a professional to individually advise them on their exercise/dietary/lifestyle plan. Imagine even going to the lengths of having a team of scientists evaluate the log I dropped this morning (sorry to be vulgar for just a sec there) and analyse it for weight, colour and dietary fibre. I've known about colonic irrigation for a few years ever since seeing a programme with various celebrities trying it out, Ian Wright (ex-footballer) I think was one of them. I don't know if this is true but apparently its possible to detect traces of beef that were eaten as a child - this hasn't put me off eating beef however I do eat a lot lot less beef these days. Anyway back to the point, how nice it must be as a celebrity to be able to pay someone to take an interest in ones rear and it's output.

**

While on the subject of downstairs, yesterday I went to the Marks and Spencer emporium to buy some new underwear. There was myself and two old men circling the underwear racks and I felt that I needed a change. So my hand was guided by an unseen force into a choice I wouldn't normally have made. I ended up buying what could be considered as a pack of male thongs or jockstraps - well sort of a pouch at the front supported by a belt of thick elastic but rather than just straps at the back there is a proper back to them - so really they are a combination of jockstrap and brief I suppose. I usually buy close fitting boxers so I'm not sure how I'll get on with these but a change is as good as a rest as they say (as long as there is no chaffing involved!). They were buy one pack, get one half price but I wasn't confident enough in my choice to get a second box. We'll see if I live to regret that choice. I might be a convert: underwear is a very personal and individual thing, only one thing is certain: it's important enough not to ignore it, so throw out underwear that's too old and any that might have holes through wearing out. Consider the style element of underwear but don't go overboard. I think I just had a Trinny and Susannah moment!

The Brits 2008

I watched The Brits 2008 with increasing disappointment on Wednesday night this week. I had been looking forward to settling down infront of the tele to watch it all day (for some reason - in previous years I've generally done my best to avoid it). There is usually a bit of excitement as to what's going to be the moment to remember at these such awards. This year for me it was Sharon Osbourne slagging off of Vic Reeves (a TV personality known for being a bit surreal and some hilarious moments in a TV quiz show called Shooting Stars: there is a blog post on why I like Vic Reeves somewhere in my head yet to be written) for being drunk. Only Vic knows if he was drunk or not (he denied it, saying it was the auto-cue going wrong) but Sharon was not very well behaved towards him - it seemed like she took it as a personal affront and how dare he turn up tipsy. The whole Osbourne family were presenting the awards and they did a reasonable job apart from that particular slip. Amy Winehouse sang well, but she can sing. Paul McCartney's set was disappointing for his lifetime achievement award and just generally I felt the whole evening was a bit of a let down. Certainly not something to look forward to next year.

The Nanny (1965)

I watched another of the films in my Hammer Horror films box collection on Saturday night. It was a film from 1965 called The Nanny. There is something terrifying about stern old ladies. I don't know quite what it is. Perhaps its that I expect old ladies to be kind hearted and good spirited. And at first in this film you start to associate the stern facade of Bette Davis' nanny with a strict and proper authoritarian. During the film you come to think of the family she lives with as completely dysfunctional but towards the end a different thread emerges. I think its riveting stuff. The film has a few twists without any great surprises. The acting between Bette Davis and William Dix (who plays 10 year old Joey) is a large part of what makes this film so great. The film leaves you feeling disturbed rather than terrified. That's just about right for the period in which this film was made. The black and white also adds something to the film, not that you can tell by this image I found.

Simple Food Restaurant

Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen and have gone in there to make a quick tasty snack I think to myself how easy it would be to open a cafe that only had simple food on the menu. Lets take baked beans on toast as an example: there must be loads of slightly different ways of preparing this, one of my favourites is to take some nice thick sliced (white) bread, toast one half and turn it over, lay a thin layer of sliced ham on the untoasted side followed by a layer of Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce and on top grate some cheese and pop under the grill. Lovely. You can do the same with Heinz spaghetti. Very quick, dirt cheap and simple. Great with coffee or tea. Actually as I write this post I'm reminded of the time I shared a house as a student and how invaluable a Breville sandwich toaster was. I used to love toasted sandwiches, cheese and tomato, ham and cheese, baked beans, chilli con carne, toasted sandwiches are so versatile! The only downside was that the toaster was a pain in the arse to clean, in the end we didn't bother and I think I threw it away when the course ended rather than clean the bloody thing. I did love my toasties though, I miss having a toasted sandwich occasionally.

Happy 50th, Lego

It's Lego's 50th birthday and here are some interesting facts about the little wonder brick:

• On January 28, 1958, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen submitted a patent for the interlocking and studded plastic brick
• The name Lego comes from the first two letters of the Danish words "Leg godt" or "play well" in English
• The company's iconic toy allows an infinite number of assembly combinations. With just two bricks there are 24 different combinations, and with six there are 915 million possibilities
• A half-century after its creation, more than 400 million children and adults play each year with the bricks, spending five billion hours a year putting them together and pulling them apart
• The bricks made today can still interlock with those made in the first batch in 1958
• South Korean adventurer Heo Young-Ho, who climbed Mount Everest in 1987, left a Lego toy behind in the snow after his ascent
• Lego was named "Toy of the Century" in 1999 by US business magazine Fortune
• Seven boxes of Lego are sold every second around the world
• 19 billion components are produced each year -- enough to wrap around the Earth's circumference five times

Lego was one of my favourite toys as a child, I used to spend hours and hours playing with it. I inherited a box of Lego bricks and over time I was bought some Lego of my own. Although I received other building blocks of various types, it was always Lego that did it for me. My kids play Lego too, although they have the Bionicle sets as well as the straightforward blocks. However, they probably play more with the simple blocks than the Bionicle sort.  [News source for the facts above]

One of those weeks

It's been a busy 7 days. I've a busy week next week too. Finding time for my leisure activity has been an issue lately. However, I'm here and I've had some wine and I'm ready. Ready for what? I ate some Oatibix today, a new(ish) breakfast cereal that comes in sachets you add milk to and microwave. I have to say that, although slightly sceptical at first, I actually enjoyed it and appreciated the warmth in my stomach and I also appreciated not feeling too hungry before having lunch. Isn't that just the worst part of being at work - when you get the mid-morning munchies so bad that you feel like you have to either eat or be sick. Life is so much better when you have the opportunity to snack mid morning. I've worked in some places with no canteen or snack shops that you can sneak off to, what dives! I did work somewhere once that had a Bun Wagon, a motorised cafe that opened for business anywhere and provided hot tea, cakes and even bacon sandwiches. The latest anti-obesity drive seems to have demonised bacon, which is a shame since it is probably my favourite meat. I also really like sausages, especially sausage rolls - another foodstuff that has been demonised. I did buy a sausage roll this week though. I'm so bad when I'm on the road! That's the trouble with combining diets with work - you have to have food to give you the fuel to carry on. What's the answer? Come on you new age chefs, tell us how we can eat healthy and have jobs where you travel so much!

Habits

It seems to me that habits have a way of slowly forming. Sometimes I don't even realise that something is a habit until I stop and think about it. Habits can occur when you are in a certain place or at a particular time of the day. Maybe a habit is related to mood or maybe even to circumstances outside of your control. Habits can include things like the food you buy and cook, where you put your keys when you get home, what type of subject matter you read, what you usually drink, where you put your shoes, the route you take to work and which hand you open a door with. If you subtracted from an average day the number of hours spent doing things habitually, roughly how much time would be left? Is that the time you actually get things done and make a difference with? That would be a good question for an employer to ask its employees.

We like habits in general, they are comfortable and familiar and we are usually in control of the situation. Stepping outside of that comfort zone takes courage and energy. It extends us in ways we don't perhaps understand at the time. Habits can be bad, there are obvious ones like smoking or drinking to excess and less obvious ones (to other people) that we are more inclined not to admit to, like buying shoes or clothes too often. Some habits are foisted upon us not through direct choice but by our own preference - like taking a route through a building to avoid a particular person.

Habits are interesting things aren't they? And I didn't have a clue what I would write about when I started this.

The Reading Box

Here's a fictional account of an idea I had this morning while slowly waking up and becoming aware of the morning. I love books, they surround me at home and I like dipping into my reading all the time. I wish I had the time to read more. There is something physical about turning the pages of a book and holding it while you read that I don't think will ever be captured by technology. I've used a few handheld electronic ebook readers and you just don't get the same feeling.

The Reading Box project began as a concept in 2008. The chain opened with one store inside the London North circular road on a trading estate. The large boxlike purple structure attracted attention through its use of bright neon lettering, strong vibrant colour scheme and homely interior spaces. Multi-functional, flexible spaces allowed for white-walled business use as meeting spaces during the day that were converted into softly lit colourful and homely interior spaces in the evenings. Poetry readings, book clubs for an assortment of tastes, fresh coffee on tap, easy internet access, alignment to its own social networking site brought adults together to physically meet in a safe environment. One of the secrets of its success was the alignment of social and commercial use. Reading groups used the bookshop, the staff were knowledgeable on books - being librarians or bookstore workers themselves. Some linked the growth of The Reading Box chain to the increase in printed book sales and in particular print on demand books. Other commentators cite the low entrance fees, library-like atmosphere and the generous "try before you buy" ethos. A person could use the website to discuss authors and arrange groups to meet face-to-face for ongoing discussion while reading the book at the same time. The introduction of author readings added to the appeal. Authors would hold cosy reading sessions for small groups of 15 people gathered around on sofas, beanbags and the floor. Authors preferred the reading sessions to cold, impersonal bookstore signings. Slogans like "The world will be a better place if we all just sit down and read together", "The Reading Box: the space to think", the self-mocking "The Reading Box: Join Us", "Think out of the Box", "The Reading Box: Books. People. Comfort" and designer T shirts created a mini craze for The Reading Box merchandise and some argue merchandise brought more revenue than the nominal entrance fees. Some commentators have criticised The Reading Box for its temple-like rule about leaving shoes in boxes by the door calling it "a soft play area for grown-ups". Others argue that leaving ones shoes by the door is disarming and makes for a friendlier atmosphere. The success of The Reading Box continues now into 2011 despite minor criticisms and the current trend away from doing everything online to a more hybrid approach fits well with the company ethos and the new counter culture where once it was cool to market yourself on the web now it seems cool not to have a web presence at all.

Do I want new glasses?

I got my hair cut in between Christmas and New Year. I forgot about it but several people commented on it today as soon as they saw me, saying it was nice and it sort of threw my concentration for a few seconds. I have lost a couple of stones in weight because of the diet and I feel good for it. I'd like to try getting some new glasses but I find the process of choosing them quite difficult, I don't know whether my prescription has changed - last two times I've had my eyes tested I've found that my short sightedness has actually improved so I've had to have less powerful prescriptions. I'm told that this happens getting older, which I'm less thrilled about. So if I did get new glasses I'm not really sure what sort to get, maybe I should create a "mood board" for the kind of image I want? A mood board apparently is a poster or board with photos cut from lifestyle magazines - usually used for representing what you like in terms of design, style and taste of anything from cars to household furnishings. I'm not sure what would be on my mood board for face furniture, though obviously I'd want to project an image like a studious Keanu Reeves!

Friday lunch

Just having my lunchbreak so I thought I'd blog at the same time.

I watched Sunshine last night, directed by Danny Boyle who directed Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. It was good, if you like suspense and sci-fi you'll probably like it. The DVD skipped a little at the climax, so I might have missed a few important seconds (rather annoyingly) but even so I enjoyed the experience of watching it.

Over the weekend I hope to play some videogames, I'm working my way slowly through the terrorists on Rainbow Six Las Vegas on Xbox360 and I'd like play some of the new Mario game on the Wii. I'll also probably watch a few Hammer films from the box set and Pirates and possibly Die Hard 4.0.

My guitar class starts again on Monday evening, I've moved into the Improvers class so that will be harder and I'll need to do some practicing for that.

I also started my novel this week and need to work on that too. So a full weekend in prospect! I hope you have a great weekend too!!

Movie Time

We have rented some titles to watch:

• 300
• Sunshine
• Hairspray
• Pirates of the Carribean At World's End
• Die Hard 4.0

I watched 300 last night, it was OK but not as good as I thought it would be. I didn't really know what to expect. I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong but I think it was pretty well hyped to be more than it actually was.

My wife reports that John Travolta played a good part in Hairspray, I don't know as I didn't watch it. It didn't appeal to me but I might have enjoyed it had I been in the mood.

I'm looking forward to watching Sunshine this evening. I saw 28 Days Later and I think it's the same director, name escapes me for the moment.

Also, we got a bargain yesterday: 21 disk boxset of Hammer Horror films for 40 instead of 150 pounds. There were a few vampire films with Christopher Lee and a few Peter Cushing films too. I can't wait, I love those old horror films. I'd love to get the Amicus collection on DVD too. Haven't seen that cheap enough yet though.

I'm probably not going to enjoy the pirates film and I have my doubts about Die Hard 4.0. I liked the previous Die Hard films, I bought the boxset but I'm just not sure a fourth is necessary. Oh well, only one way to find out...

End thoughts

I would like to write something intelligent and insightful about the year but instead a myriad of trivial things come to mind more readily than anything else I could say. It's a shame. However, I am suffering from another cold and I'm tired today having spent much of last night awake coughing. Tomorrow is the final day of December in 2007 and a new year knocks on the door. I wonder what it will bring us? It would be nice to think that man will realise his limitations and wage peace instead of war. It would be nice if the sexes respected each other for what they both bring to the world. It would be nice if all ages respected the young for the future that they will become. An imminent new year always manages to fill me with hope, however desperate it may seem. I am hopeful for 2008. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and lots of love!

Tech Gifts

Funny how times change, isn't it? The growth of the electronics industry has led to the the development of plenty related industries. Toy departments have been affected a lot by changes in the toy industry, not always for the best. I've seen quite a number of toy shops close locally. Those that continue less resemble a toy shop than an electronics store. It's a bit of a shame, I feel, when kids engage more with a screen than their imaginations. I had some electronic toys in my childhood but they were fairly naff and restricted by battery power and there was no world wide web to connect up to. I'm not a fuddy duddy, I love playing videogames and I love gadgets but I do wonder sometimes where it is all leading and whether it has got out of control for very young children. We've had to set our PC up for parental control recently because my kids are starting to use the computer now for school work and email. Knowing what's out if you look for it there makes me very wary.

I wonder how big the market for tech gifts is? My wife and I have spent a load of money this year on presents for each other. I think next year we should aim to be less tech-driven and give ourselves some good old fashioned stuff like clothes and books.

I saw a new shopping category in the catalogue this year: PINK GIFTS. Oh My God! Please shoot me if I ever buy anyone a pink gift: ARRGGGGHHH!! I ordered my wife something pink just the other day!!! (At least it wasn't from the pink gifts catalogue). BUT the pink gifts section must be a nightmare for catalogue publishers because there doesn't seem to be any connection between the stuff apart from the fact it is pink - so they have to duplicate the stuff again in their respective categories.

PS. We bought a really cheap keyboard some weeks back and the B key doesn't always work, so any typing usually involves proof reading to ensure I've not missed any Bs out - infuriating!!! OK, so I guess a new keyboard is some other new tech that we have to get. :-(

2007, you're nearly up

How was 2007 for you? I know it's not yet over but in general its been alright without being extreme in either good or bad terms. I feel somehow that I'm either entering a creative period or leaving one - I hope I'm entering one because I don't feel I've been particularly creative this year. I feel I've withdrawn into my shell over the last few months, certainly blogging wise I've found it difficult as I've had to be more focused at work, less relaxed and hence more organised. This affects what I do in my spare time, in order to balance things out I've become less organised in my social life - it's not been a conscious effort I have just been pondering things and came to that realisation about 5 minutes ago. So, in my head I've been thinking about next year. I am 40 in 2008, so I'd like to do something memorable. I've also been thinking about writing. Writing a novel is very demanding but I have been considering the challenge - without really considering what kind of novel I would write. I'll be thinking more about my achievements this year, I'm not sure whether I'll share them here or not yet. I started this blog in January 2005 and one of my considerations will be whether or not I want to continue it. There might be other vehicles for articulating my thoughts. I don't know. I'm rambling, so goodnight and I'm off to listen to some music....

The Simpsons Anniversary

Today in 1989, the longest-running US sitcom and longest-running animated series began with a half hour Christmas edition.

My favourite episodes are probably the Halloween related ones but The Simpsons can still make me laugh, I felt I should post something since its been a while and The Simpsons deserves some kind of anniversary statement from me since I've enjoyed the show so much over the years.

Dedicated to the moms...

Motherhood condensed into less than three minutes, she's nailed it for me.

Secrets

Have you ever kept a secret? I'm sure at one point or another all of us have. When someone asks us to keep a secret it's a burden they put on us. It's certainly a relief when the secret is lifted and you can talk about it but it can be very hard on the people sharing the secret while its still a secret - especially if it's good news. The difficulty is that some people can keep secrets and some can't - the burden becomes too great that they have to share it. Sometimes people even tell others that they have a secret that they can't divulge - its just attention seeking and the worst kind because they know they'll be constantly asked to reveal the secret and enjoy the anguish on people asking. Secrets between friends can be used to hurt other friends by excluding them, another horrible use of secrets. I don't like secrets, I don't trust people who burden others with their secrets.

In Praise of...

There is so much to be thankful for in life. The gift of music is just one of them, it's an important one for me. Here's a lovely little video of a soprano from the UK singing in a show usually broadcast on a Sunday at tea time. The show is called Songs Of Praise and I don't usually watch it but I turned on the TV and this song just started and I was captivated for a few minutes. I knew Lesley Garrett's name and could probably have guessed who it was. I listen very often to Classic FM radio when I'm in the car these days and she has a show on that. I like her voice and she seems like a nice person when I've seen her on the Children In Need show, I know she has done a lot for charities. I'm always amazed at how operatic singers manage to breath and flow with the song. She does a great job here and looks amazing.

End of Summer

Our clocks go backwards an hour early tomorrow morning, signalling the true end of British Summer Time even though the weather hasn't been very summery this year. I like having the extra hour but Sundays typically go fast and I hate the feeling that work starts again the next day. At least there are a few holidays to look forward to over the next few weeks - Halloween and Bonfire Night at any rate. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I have trouble remembering when that is - is it early December? So after the first week of November, its the last slow crawl to Christmas. Not that it is so slow, December whizzes past usually. Plenty of good music to listen to in the evenings, videogames, TV and films to watch when its too dark or cold to venture outside. The shops open late for Christmas shopping - have you got all your presents yet? I even heard Christmas music in one shop last weekend. I have not yet been tempted to buy one remotely Christmassy thing yet, although I was eyeing the seasonal aisle of the supermarket - lots of lovely food that is very likely to add a nice layer of fat to my body - perhaps I won't be having the usual Christmas food this year!

Nights are drawing in

It's getting darker earlier and earlier in the afternoon. My neighbour commented to me yesterday evening that she likes the fact that it is dark when she gets home. I guess I can appreciate some of that - it certainly makes the house feel cozy. The heating is on, the lamp casts a nice warm It also makes me think of the holiday season approaching, the shops are starting to stock Christmas items in the run to the end of the year. I have a lot of deadlines to meet before the end of the year, so I'm just going to get my head down and work through it all. I'll be blogging when I can over the coming months.

If you've never seen the show The IT Crowd, I'd recommend it. I've seen two series on DVD and have enjoyed it, a good laugh.

Segmentation

Another week and only one post! What's happening is that my time is being eaten up with cooking, washing up, video gaming seeing the children off to bed, work and trying (and usually failing) to get enough sleep. I need more segmentation or separation between my interests and activities. I didn't get a chance to do much blogging this week and I didn't get a chance to do any prep for the next series of my podcast, which begins next week. I'm also up against things work-wise, so the next few days, weeks and months are going to to get busy: hence segmentation is essential. Everything has to have a fair time-slice. So goodness knows how I'm going to do that, with Halo 3 being released this week (I got my pre-order in on Saturday and I'm secretly getting excited).

Shuffling Along

Has it really been a week since I last posted something here? It doesn't feel that long! I wonder if keeping a notebook has had a replacement effect instead of a supporting role in my blogging? I mean, perhaps I get out of me what I need to in my notebook instead of in these posts.

On Monday evening I started a guitar class. It's ok so far, I found I couldn't strum a simple pattern very well but I could form chords OK, so I could use the tuition. We learned the key of D and the key of G. A member of the group turned up a little late, a lady. She tried to enter the class in an unobtrusive way but because her guitar was strapped on her back (with the neck sticking out), when she turned to close the door she hit a chair making a loud noise. The class is in an art room, so there are papier mache models hanging up etc., and she tried to slip quietly past the tutor but turned again and hit the models hanging up. I bet she felt a right wally, I know I would have, but to her credit she got on with it and didn't play bad either.

I've got my Xbox360 online now, so I've been doing a bit of gaming with some friends, not real friends - like the kind you know on a face to face level - but internet friends: the internet is a new social paradigm isn't it?

I'm listening to a lot of music lately, partly in preparation for a new season of FWPL starting in October but partly because I bought my wife a new Ipod and have taken over using her old Ipod Shuffle. I love iTunes and the Shuffle, you can get several albums worth (as much as you can listen to on one trip) and hear the tracks in endless new ways. I love the serendipity of tracks shuffling - it's what I do when I decide the play order for my podcast. It keeps things interesting having that juxtaposition of styles and genres.

Hope everyone has had a good week, here's to another this week...cheers!

Daydreaming

I wonder how many words are typed on the average computer keyboard? The letters were disappearing on our old keyboard we'd done so much typing on it, so as I was shopping in the supermarket yesterday I noticed them selling keyboards for 3 pounds in the bargains section. On impulse I bought one. It seems to be alright, despite being so cheap it does what I need it to. It's a wired one, I toyed with the idea of buying a wireless keyboard and mouse pack but they were about 5 times more expensive and the keyboard wire doesn't really ever get in the way, so I figured we didn't need wireless. Also, with our wireless internet and mobile phones etc. I'm not in any hurry to bring any more airwaves into the house - I know they say there's no evidence of any of that stuff doing harm but you just don't want to increase the risk, even slightly.

I woke yesterday having had a bad dream, not sure it was classified as a nightmare. I was with a colleague from work and sort of informally got this offer to be interviewed for a great job. I was kind of disorganised and it was very last minute but even so I screwed up. Instead of accepting a lift and being a little late, or even driving myself there, I decided to go by bus. The bus didn't even leave until way after the interview and the guy wasn't there any more, he'd left ages ago but my colleague who offered the lift was there to tell me how p***ed off he was. It was all so informal that I didn't even have the guy's name or number so I couldn't call to say I'd be late. I just felt so cut off and embarassed about making a bad impression on someone I'd never met. That was no way to wake up. I was in a bad mood for the rest of day.

I've started carrying a little notebook around with me wherever I go. I use it to jot down ideas for blog posts or just to capture some thought here or there. It's quite handy, don't know why I haven't done it before. One of the entries records my surprise at how long my wife and I have been doing the GI diet. We're still on it and my wife has almost lost two stones, she's looking really good and is buying clothes again. I think a lot of women feel bigger than they are, I guess that's to do with the media presenting an ideal body image that's far from the norm. It doesn't appear to strike men so hard that way.

Run for cover

Life is a big, scary thing. We make decisions based on what we know to be true at the time. But it can turn out that decisions you make, are made because you want to get out of no-mans land into a foxhole for cover. Sometimes you realise that you are stuck for years in a foxhole that you thought would provide temporary cover and you need to get out. Climbing out of the hole and running through fire to get the next foxhole can be paralysing but you do need to act. Moving from one foxhole to foxhole is no way to live. You need to get off the battleground.

Bone of contention

I finished off the Blason de Bourgogne 2006 Chardonnay, which is a lovely dry white wine, tonight while watching the two remaining episodes of the first series I had to watch of the sitcom The IT Crowd. A series I've starting liking, the second series is on TV at the moment but I haven't managed to catch any of them - looks like another DVD catch-up job will be in order.

I also watched this show about two trainee hairdressers vying for a job with a top London hair salon. Reality TV strikes again, with a twist, the twist being that one candidate is 17 and the other is in their 60s. The younger having worked in a local salon for 3 years whilst the latter has been in the business over 40 years. The human side of story really focused on the man in his 60s, we learned he wanted to support his wife and that he had a good way with customers, that he enjoyed taking the reigns on a photo shoot, producing some stunning visuals interpreting the theme creatively but he was very set in his old, bad ways. The girl was sour faced, gave the impression of being stroppy and talked in a monotone voice constantly, showing no enthusiasm whatever. She bombed on the photo shoot assignment but did well in the final show as the finale of their 4 weeks in the salon. How humiliating for the guy to fail a hair washing test 5 times - not just any old hair washing because it had to be in the correct salon style. It was more a problem for him because he was tall and he had to bend to get the right angle for his hands. Whereas it was nothing for a nimble 17 year old.

Talk of washing hair reminds me that a few years ago I went into a small local barbershop I'd never been into before for a haircut. All seemed friendly enough but the shop felt a bit behind the times - a curtain across the shop window at shoulder height hid the clients from view. On the wall were lots of black and white soccer photographs. The radio was tuned to a sports talk station and it being a Saturday, there was a lot to talk about and the barbers (two of them, both male in their 40s/50s, passing comment occasionally). It was quite busy, I had to wait my turn on my foldable chair against the wall facing clients infront of the small mirrors. I had chosen to have a Wet Cut that meant having my hair washed beforehand, every time I'd had my hair washed in a salon before I was asked to lean back and the business was done with my face clear from water as my hair was washed behind. But in this barbershop, it was a different kettle of fish. I had to lean forward, water ran off my nose and I found it hard to get get my breath. I'm sure I must have struggled to get free but my head was held firmly in place - it was probably one of the most uncomfortable few minutes of my life (apart from a few times in the dentist office). Needless to say I never went back there, I didn't feel like I ever wanted to drown in a barbershop again.

Back to reality TV, no surprises that the girl beat the man to be offered the job. I think the reasoning was that the salon owners felt that they could bring out the personality in the girl and she was easier to mould into what they wanted. It must have been a terrible let down for the man though, the programme showed none of the aftermath of the judges decision which I felt was unusual - don't reality TV shows usually indulge in analysing every aspect of success and failure? It simply said in text in the end credits that the girl was still working at the salon and the man was still looking for a full time position. I felt he deserved something better out of the experience - I'm sure he learned a lot but if that doesn't translate into something material what's the point? Ah, reality TV doesn't have to have a point though, does it? I've answered my own question! Time for bed...

Thirty nine

Birthday's are strange aren't they? Thanks for my birthday shout outs people, nice to be thought of on such a day. It's near the end of my thirties and yet I don't feel anything much about that, perhaps it will be different as the year progresses. I already spent my birthday money on the Xbox360, but it was nice to get some new clothes to wear - and because I've lost weight actually fit into 32" waist jeans.

I've been thinking a lot recently about life and what matters. I'm going to start some guitar lessons in the next week or so, it's at a local art centre I used to go to pretty regularly many years ago. I think going out and interacting with people outside of work and home is essential - it's something I haven't been doing enough of since my daughter was born several years ago.

I'm listening to a lot of classical music lately. Mainly as I drive, I listen to Classic FM. I've also watched a documentary series I took out the library on The Great War. I wanted to understand more about how that war started, a lot of people only know it through the Blackadder Goes Forth TV comedy. Hope you enjoy the following clip, you'll see a younger version of Hugh Laurie from House fame (among many other things) in it.

Good start

Work has been hectic all week. I finished late today however, my wife had the foresight to load the oven with vegetables to roast - so we decided to take the kids to the park much later than usual. We had it all to ourselves. I'd been working indoors all day, so getting out into the fresh air to play with the kids in the park was great - it really blew the cobwebs out! I had awoken this morning with such a headache for some reason.

I just also want to thank all of you who read this blog and comment, I just want to let you know it means so much to me and it's probably not often enough that I say that.

Woods

We had a Bank Holiday on Monday this week. My wife is preparing lots of work at the moment, she monopolises our home PC, so I decided to take the children to the woods while she worked. My kids love to listen to Enid Blyton Famous Five audio books at bedtime, so while we walked through the woods they play-acted as the children from the stories. My kids love adventure stories and it makes me happy to listen to them playing. I remember doing similar play-acting as a kid. I actually think its good for learning improvisation techniques. There were lots of picnic spots and we set up our small pop-up tent in one, stretched out our blanket and I got the wine gums out and apple juice out. I played football with them and a noisy kind of tennis game (the rackets had a clear thin vinyl material stretched across which make a noise like a biscuit tin lin: infact I'll christian the game now - Biscuit Tin Ball! I lay on the blanket, looked up at the sky framed by the tops of trees and suddenly a glider swooped around low over the trees. It was a great sight. Gliders can often be seen when out walking on the hills near us, I even drive by the airstrip where they take off to see if I can catch a glimpse quickly. There are several nice things about having the day off and taking the kids somewhere like the woods: they get fresh air, they get to run around and use up lots of energy, they can be as loud as they like, they get a chance to discover things about nature, it gives them some dedicated time with me, they can watch other families and it all costs next to nothing. Finding something good to do as a family is not easy, most of the time pressures of life and work compete. But I'm glad that this Bank holiday we did something that was enjoyable for me and the children and got us out to experience some nature.

Room to Grow

Our house is full. We need to move. Individually, we're just a lot of hoarders and too many hoarders in one family is not good. I had to get something from the loft (attic) this week and I got up there and my heart just sank. Finding out how much you've actually got to move when you do decide to go for me has been deeply upsetting. I'm telling you folks, we've got issues to address and stuff to chuck out. House prices are ridiculous, there is no way we could afford a four bedroom house in the area - they're like 400,000 pounds. That's not far off half a million, I remember when I had to think of the largest number I possibly could as a child and it was usually a million. Well, a million ain't like it used to be (it's still completely unrealistic an amount of money though).

Changing the subject completely, I learned over the weekend that the Chupa Chups logo (below) was originally designed by Salvador Dali. That would make a great trivia question, perhaps its already been used but I'd have thought it was a joke before reading the truth.



Disconcerting
On another note, the wall clock in our dining room is running out of battery and nobody can be bothered to change it yet. It is disconcerting to realise I had less time than I thought to finish this post! Guess I'll have to change that battery now...

Gamer Days

This week has been fairly busy. I've still managed to find time to get some gaming in though, especially because last Sunday I used my voucher and reward points up at Game on buying the Xbox360 system bundled with the Gears of War and Forza Motorsport 2 games.



I'm going to try and use the Xbox Live service, haven't been that adventurous yet but I'll do it since I might as well take advantage now I've finally bought a next generation console. The games are brilliant, Gears of War just looks like a film to me the graphics are so good.

I'm still managing to find pleasure in playing my Playstation 2 games, I'm making progress with Conflict Desert Storm 2. It's not an exceptional game by any standards but I'm close to finishing the storyline and it's getting harder and more addictive. I was playing up until 2am this morning. This probably explains my current headache!

Fruity topic

Is a nectarine the same as a peach, except with different skin? They taste much the same to me. If I had to choose a favourite fruit it would be a pineapple because they are so juicy and mouthwatering.

I found this quiz on Tara's blog and what do you know?

What Kind of Fruit Are You?

You are a Pineapple...the traditional symbol of friendship, you embrace everyone as a friend...you are loyal, kind and always there for a friend in need...
Take this quiz!








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TV Thoughts

The new series of the UK version of X Factor began last Saturday, the viewing figures were something like 11 million. This is very good for a UK Saturday evening show these days, long gone are the days when figures were much higher for Saturday evening variety shows. My wife looks forward to the X Factor not for the show itself but the knowledge that it begins the run-up to Christmas (when the series traditionally finishes). The show itself began with a tension between the judges, Brian Friedman (US dance expert) was eventually replaced after the first week with Louis Walsh (who was unceremoniously sacked after the last series). We are led to believe that "the chemistry" is right again and miraculously the acts started improving and more were let through. I'm not sure I would have let some of the acts in that they did but they're the experts. What I didn't realise and what is never made clear is that the judges only see a proportion of the acts that are let through by the shows producers. This knowledge ruins for me the parts with truly terrible singers, it just feels exploitative: I know (newsflash: music industry exploits the young!) but combined with lowering the age limit to 14 year olds I feel more and more uncomfortable. Perhaps I'm just being a grumpy old fart.

Hello again, hello

It's good to be back! I feel refreshed and reinvigorated. It's probably down to spending a week away from work and home last week - we all went to the seaside for a week. Even though the weather was mixed we had a good time, did I mention we managed to walk about 40 miles in total during the week? Pretty good going I think. My left calf muscle has been aching a bit last couple of days but tonight it seems to be OK. It's good to be home but when you're away and the day when you have to return home is approaching there's a feeling you get that is half-glad and half-sad, sad because it's nice to do things different for a while. Even the small things like the changes you have to make in how you prepare your food can seem like quite big. It teaches you that changing behaviour is not that hard and that change can be good. Having to live differently is also good to demonstrate how adaptable you can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about small changes here - we stayed in an apartment so the only major differences beside location for us were the facilities available for washing, cooking etc. It's not like we were living in a remote island or anything. Being somewhere else, in someone else's place without making it your own, is like living as a different person for a while. That's probably part of what I needed. Something to think about, anyway...

Recharging

Just recharging my body batteries....hence the lack of posts...

Feeling

I haven't been feeling very well lately. Hence my lack of posts. I've got some stomach bug I think, but yesterday I was asleep by 8pm. Today I looked after my son and we got my boxes of magic tricks out and I amazed and confused him with some of those I could do. I love magic trick kits: I urge you to go out and buy a cheap box of tricks for your own amusement in times of boredom, it works a treat when you need a diversion from any trouble or feelings you want to suppress.
The other thing I've been doing is reading my kids a new bedtime storybook, well actually it's not a new book at all. It's The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Graham, a book I know from my childhood but I don't remember where exactly I know it from. I mean whether my parents, or a teacher or myself read it. I started out encouraging my daughter to read a page while I read two but it quickly became apparent that there were some huge words in it that she had not come across and so needed explaining. This was in almost every sentence. I like the way it is written and the language but it uses so many grown up words and is complex in its use of language that I don't think it would make it as children's book in today's world. I may be wrong, my wife (who was a good reader as a kid) said she started it so many times as a kid and always gave up because the words were so difficult that she now hates it (and complains it is boring). It probably is a bit boring but is also fairly gentle and pleasant (at least so far), that I'm going to continue reading it as the bedtime story.
Lastly, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to our summer holiday at the seaside, it's coming in about 4 weeks time. Yippee!