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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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?
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 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.
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.
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 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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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 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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
It's the 1st March tomorrow. I've had a busy week at work, my time off last week put me behind a little bit so I've been playing catch up. This week coming up is another busy week as well.
My wife and a friend went to Paris this weekend. They saw the Eiffel Tower and rode the elevator to the second observation deck, the view is quite something she says. Paris is quite flat and the river runs through it. It's been about ten years since I was in Paris I think, a long time anyway. She was only there for a few hours before having to head back. I didn't go up the tower when I was there, my fear of heights took over.
I'm quite tired, Saturday on my own with the children wore me down a bit even though they behaved well. I hope the weather gets warmer and more Spring-like now March is here, I like Spring.
Last bit of news, while waiting for my wife to return after midnight last night, it gave me an opportunity to complete a couple of pages of my comic strip Adventures of Stan.
Well, we went to the cinema on Thursday to see Up. The weather was wet and horrid, so it was the best thing to do. The film was really great, the only downside of the whole thing was I had a headache when I came out. It soon cleared up after I got home. On Friday, I drove us all down to Brighton so that my wife could go shopping for glass. She loves glass and there is an area of Brighton known as The Lanes. It has lots of little shops that sell all manner of things, it really is an eclectic mix of shops and I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. The streets are narrow (hence "the lanes") and the buildings have murals on them. My wife did buy herself some nice glass ornaments. I bought myself a great volume of black and white Spiderman comics in a book format. I love super hero comics and Spidey is a favourite of mine.
Lastly, I've bought a game for the Wii that is quite unnerving. I usually only buy games for the Wii that we can all play. Mainly because I have an Xbox360 and it has plenty of great adult games that don't seem to translate very well for the Wii. The game was Resident Evil 4 and I can recommend it for the story as well as the gameplay.
I finally also got to watch the Star Trek film this week. I really enjoyed it. I borrowed it from the library and also borrowed GI Joe at the same time - I started watching GI Joe and fell asleep though: it's not something I'd recommend except to people who insomnia sufferers.
I have today and tomorrow off. Just began the day by popping out to the drive thru Macdonald's to get breakfast for the family. We haven't yet decided what we're going to do. We may go and see a film at the Kid's Club, Up is on and my son wants to go see it. No other plans at the moment, other than to have a relaxing time.
Courtney Love appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross last week, the equivalent of a show like David Letterman I guess. It's the second of these two videos. I don't really know if this appearance is under the name Hole or Courtney Love, I heard she was releasing a solo album next. I've always liked Hole ever since I bought a comilation CD in the first half of the 90s that had a track by them. I have Pretty On The Inside on vinyl and the other two albums on CD. I once saw Hole live in Wolverhampton's Civic Hall. I really like Melissa Auf der Maur's solo album. I don't know what the other former member of Hole, Eric Erlandson is up to these days.
Falling. Into the terrifying pit. Like jumping out of a plane to your death. It's a phrase I've never thought about but falling implies an unstoppable certainty. It also implies a landing that might be hard or soft. I think it's a good phrase, which is probably why it's stuck around.
I heard once that there is a difference between being "in love" with someone and "loving" them. I've been "in love" with some women who never knew how I felt (for the better I think). I am friends with some of them to this day and they don't know how I felt about them. The feeling of being "in love" can fade and be replaced with a kind of friendly love that you would never act on: the word is friendship. Friendship is a kind of love is it not?
I have been a fool of love. When I felt I could manage it and tame it. But I was wrong. You can't tame love. It changes and moves as we grow and change as people over the course of our lives. Loving a partner is a much richer experience but it's a long haul one. You might not like what they do at times but we are all subject to external stresses and pressures that make us behave oddly or unlike ourselves at times (drink and drugs being a big example of an external factor). But essentially, with a partner you admire and respect them and you both protect each other and just enjoy the time you are together much more than the time apart. This is how I feel about love and now I'll shut up about it.
There has been a noticeable amount of advertising for Valentines Day I've noticed this year. I don't know whether this is because:
it always happens but I just have noticed it more this year
more advertising money has been spent by those selling products/services this year
everyone wants to spread some fruity good news as we come out of the recession of last year
it falls on a weekend this year and it gives an extra shopping day or two to get sorted out
The whole thing has always left me slightly uncomfortable. In the same way that asking a girl out did, usually because it was such a difficult thing to do I made a hash of it out of embarrassment and my shyness. After my experience, my advice to my son (if he asks when its time) will be, just be direct and ask. I found that if I got to the stage where I was taking a girl out for a night, I would instinctively know if she was interested. The danger is when it's borderline and you can't tell. I've probably lost a couple of friends that way and the other way too: rushing into something physical when it should have remained platonic. Can you have a platonic friendship with someone you could have loved? Or does the love eventually destroy it by rearing it's ugly head?
It's so weird how a week can go by without you really noticing, isn't it? I can't believe it is Thursday evening already. I haven't felt very well the last couple of days. I have a thick cold and it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere. I blame the changing weather, the cold retreats a bit and lulls you into believing Spring is on the way and then it comes back with violent snow and sub-zero temperatures. At least it's not as bad as the weather I see on the TV in Washington.
Not much to say at the moment, kind of feel like sleeping off this cold.
I was listening to the radio on Wednesday morning I think, as I was driving to the train station and the DJ dedicated a song to everyone who was trying to ignore a warning light that morning. Thinking about that, I imagine that there are thousands of people around the world doing just that right at this very moment. I've done it some times, I had a car that had a break light indicator come on without warning and I would ignore it. Probably ill advised but it never affected the car, I did get rid of it though eventually. I try to ignore the petrol low light sometimes but I don't keep the resistance up for long because....well, obviously I don't want to run out of petrol!
Anyway, I was listening to a Liz Phair song from the nineties and thought I haven't heard a song from her in years, so I watched a few old clips of her on YouTube, she was a good singer sonwriter but I don't know if she is still going. Somehow, like you do, I moved on to another singer songwriter I really like called K T Tunstall. She dedicates this song to long distance love, I really really love this song and I love KT. I hope you like it too.
It feels like I've spent a lot of time on trains this week. Mainly due to a marathon yesterday, cancellations across the board. A journey that would have normally taken 1.40 hours took 3.30 instead. Today I feel exhausted. I tried something this week I've never tried before - a bottle of Lipton's Iced Tea. I chose a lemon flavoured variety. I never thought it sounded very nice before - tea is usually hot and with milk, at least I've always drunk it that way before. But I broadened my perspective this week and it paid off, I really enjoyed it. It's always pleasing when a new experience really works out.
When I hear on the radio about soldiers being killed in Afghanistan it makes me sad. There's a phrase that is now commonplace on the news: "Their families have been informed". It just makes me think about the terrible sadness and sense of loss those families must feel.
Katie Price (Jordan) and Alex Reid tied the knot this week. Marriage doesn't seem to mean the same for celebrities as it does for the rest of us.
My last thought is on the news that Pete Waterman is going to write the next UK Eurovision Song Contest song. I look forward to the competition every year, each year the prospect of a UK win seems more remote - I don't think there is any way we can win the competition anymore. It doesn't really matter who writes the song or produces it. Still, even though I know this there is a little voice in my head that is full of hope. Grow little seed, grow!
I can't quite believe its the end of January. It doesn't seem that long ago since I was returning to work after Christmas. The weather is very cold, we had a few flakes of snow for a few minutes but nothing prolonged or longlasting.
I was thinking about what this year might bring. And thinking about the usual things I look forward to. Things like Easter, the Eurovision Song Contest (Pete Waterman is apparently composing the UK entry), booking a holiday and looking forward to summer in general. I'd quite like the weather to get lighter in the evenings and mornings: not to mention it getting warmer.
Moving house is something I look forward to, although that's an adventure that's not really begun yet. One step at a time. I am optimistic about this year though. This weekend was good overall.
Had to do a lot of travelling for work this week. On Thursday I got a new cell phone. A Samsung Tocco Lite, a kind of iPhone without the expense! The touch screen is pretty cool on it. It's got a 3 megapixel camera so I hope to be posting a few shots to Twitpic with it, see my photo from Knightsbridge on Friday looking towards Harrods lit by afternoon sunlight.
My boy and I got our hair cut yesterday, my hair is quite fine and I don't know what the best style is for me. My wife prefers it short, so I had it shaved close to my head. The minus temperatures outside are going to be felt a little closer!
On the tube in London this week, I saw my first commuter holding an e-book and reading it. I don't know how I feel about e-books really. I'm not filled with a new sense of enthusiasm. I sort of feel the same way about music downloads, there is something precious about handling books and albums that you don't get from a purely digital format.
Apple launched their iPad this week. It looks great of course. I'm sticking with my Netbook, it's light and portable and has a proper keyboard, which has to be quicker than a touchscreen. The jury is out with me whether the iPad size is correct; size, feel, screen contrast and battery life are the most important factors when selecting a portable device.
I'm starting to think about booking summer holidays.
You might be interested to notice that I've started doodling again and you might like to check up occasionally on the progress over at Doodles and Dinkums. (or even Dinkums and Doodles! - ed) For your pleasure this week I would like to present the latest book by that great geologist Aaron A. Twanklebagg - or rather it's book jacket, designed by yours truly.
I've always been easily amused by making up silly names and AAT is not real of course (disclaimer) but in a small way I've been amused by Aaron being one of The King's middle names. The idea of having a middle name exactly the same as a first name also appeals to my funny bone.
Holmes never actually said "It's elementary my dear Watson" in the books, only the films, but I felt I could extend that license. Please forgive me and tell me if you like this sort of thing. And have a nice, fun, weekend!
My boss commented “You look brow beaten” to me today. I worry about work a lot. I worry about work more in my current job than I have in any other job I’ve had. I worry about doing something wrong and getting humiliated. I have a co-worker who confides in me about everything and everyone. She is handful at times and while I might be a good listener to vent off to, some of her paranoia rubs off on me. As if I didn’t have enough already. It’s like I’ve been loaded down with her baggage as well as my own.
Couldn’t think of a title for this post. It’s been a bit of a funny week really. Work has been a mixture of very busy and then pretty quiet periods. I don’t really mind being busy, I prefer it, but if it’s quiet I do stuff that isn’t so pressing. One of the things I don’t like about my work is that some of my co-workers feel they work harder than everyone else and if something is forgotten about they are quick to point fingers at others. As if it’s ultra-important and they have to defend themselves and be seen by everyone to be really busy. As I said, I’ve nothing against busy but I don’t broadcast it to everyone and be really crotchety with others. I just get on with it. My other pet hate about work is when their is a bit of vagueness in determining what needs to be done. I like to be clear what I have to do and how to go about it. I don’t like wishy-washy and hesitation until its too late to do a good job. I don’t like being micro-managed, if there’s a task or project to do, I just like to get on with it and do it to the best ability I know I can. Not having enough leeway to make decisions and quick progress gets me down sometimes.
Anyway, that’s quite enough about work, it takes up enough of my life as it is. The weather here was shocking on Wednesday. Icy roads and more snow hit me when I got to my car, I luckily had a shovel in my boot and helped someone get their car moving after they got stuck trying to reverse out of a lay-by. Lots of schools closed, including my children’s. We really aren’t prepared for this continued cold period with snow. The road gritters are conserving stocks, meaning not all routes are gritted. I got so far and realised I might not make it up a steep hill on the way to the train station, so I decided to turn back. Good thing I did because my train was cancelled anyway. Better working at home instead of being stuck out in the middle of the country miles from anything.
2010’s first disaster has happened with the Earthquake in Haiti. I feel sorry for the thousands of families affected. Events like that always remind me how fragile life is.
The cold weather got colder on Tuesday evening this week when the snow started. I parked up and was out for a couple of hours and when I got back to my car I had to shift about two inches of snow off my car. We’ve probably had 7 or 8 inches of snow altogether so far and more is forecast. We haven’t had this much snow since 1981 apparently. I see that the US, Western Europe, China and Japan have had it bad too. The weather map even showed parts of Florida in blue.
Here’s a photo I took at lunchtime of some icicles hanging off my shed in the backyard. Wherever you are, I hope you stay warm and comfortable.
I watched the Inglorious Basterds DVD last night. It was a very watchable film.
I have one more day of holiday tomorrow before work begins and if it goes as quickly as today did then I'm out of luck! Oh why oh why do we have to go to work? It's totally not fair!
There is some pork belly, sausages, onions and potatoes roasting in the oven: a treat for my wife who had to work today while I looked after the children, so I hope she enjoys it all when she gets in. Certainly smells good. I took the children to a town about half an hour away where there is this large play structure. All of the trees looked beautiful today because of the frost giving every branch a crystal white appearance. I noticed that the trees looked exactly the same on our return journey, so I guess that means the air temperature has stayed in the minus numbers all day. The forecast talks of a chance of snow for later this week. If it's bad it might affect my journey to work. I can still work at home though, so there is no chance of escape for me really.
I was pondering what the attributes of a good horror film are after a discussion between a couple of family members after Christmas lunch. They had both seen Paranormal Activity (I have not) and were saying how frightening it was and how it sucked them in. Here are a few things I can think of:
(a) a good horror will include scenes that make you jump or cover your face the first time you see it
(b) it will include scenes that scare you even after seeing them again
(c) it will come back to you when you are alone or when you are in darkness and scare you again
(d) the concepts of the supernatural it explores will stay with you forever
(e) you should eventually be able to laugh at how it still scares you
I'm interested if you agree or if you think some of these aren't just applicable to the horror genre.
I saw this today and really enjoyed the video and the song. I've read that Ritchie Blackmore's Night stuff wasn't very good but on the strength of this, I have to disagree.
Ventured to the shopping mall today and regretted it. It was probably quieter than Saturday but even so, I'd had enough after an hour. I went mainly for my son, who was just desperate to spend the money gifts he was given by some friends and family members. He bought some of the new Lego Power Miners kits, which are quite good I must admit, and a videogame for the Wii (Pokemon Battle Revolution). I picked up a couple of games that were reduced in the sale too but when I got home I looked up some reviews and one of the games is supposed to be a total turkey but sometimes reviews are misleading and I've had great times when the reviews said that I wouldn't. At least it was nowhere near the cost of full price and I can always do a trade in, if I don't like it. After the mall we called into the hypermarket and I picked up a bottle of "cuarenta y tres" as a birthday present for my mother-inlaw, I've enjoyed a few glasses of this liqueur in a Spanish bar with collegues from work and I think it's a delightful drink.
Well, Christmas was a brief affair but good while it lasted. There is a heap of litter now in rubbish sacks. Every family member has their own pile of presents that there isn't room in the house for. I have loads of washing up to do, my least favourite chore. I've had afternoon naps infront of the TV the last two days after eating large Christmas lunches with a couple of glasses of wine. I blame my napping on the wine.
This morning my son asked me to help paint a picture with him, he got a superhero painting set as a stocking present. We started it together but he got bored really quickly and I just carried on with it. I scanned it in when it was dry (it was a watercolour) and will post it on here as soon as I can get a chance, it doesn't all fit on the scanner so he might be missing a toe or something. I like watercolour painting but have never really done it seriously.
I’ve had a sore throat since yesterday and the sniffles in my nose have gotten worse. I don’t like not feeling well but when you have a cold, you just have to get through the symptoms as best as you can.
This weekend was busy, we went to London to watch the carols and singalong. We took the children up to my parents. And today, well we had to pick a few things up from my wife’s workplace and pop into town. I borrowed a couple of books to read from the library, I don’t normally read fantasy fiction but thought I’d give it a go. I picked up a collection of short stories by Kelley Armstrong and David Eddings’ The Diamond Throne. I also picked up a couple of videogames that were on sale to go through.
I’m working on Wednesday but will try to do as little as possible ;-)
Well, I have one day to work next Wednesday but apart from that, I'm a free man until 6th January, huzzah! There is a lot of snow forecast for the early hours of tomorrow morning, I took tomorrow off to go to church to see my kid's school perform a carol concert. I love watching that sort of thing and this year my daughter is performing a solo guitar piece. I'd hate to miss that for the sake of a bit of snow. It seems the first snowfall of a season takes everyone by surprise and everything seems to shut down. So I do hope that the school stays open and that the snow isn't too bad for us.
We've another busy weekend this one. We've tickets to watch a Christmas carol concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London again this year. We seem to go every year now and have a box which accommodates 8 people so that there is plenty of room behind us to have some drinks and food whenever we want to. I like singing along with everyone else, my mother inlaw invites guests too, so I'm not sure who else will be coming along. It will be good though I'm sure. Have a great weekend folks, Christmas is not far away now!
I’ve heard that a Facebook group has been set up to promote sales for Rage Against The Machine’s song Killing In The Name because there is a feeling that the X Factor is a cynical marketing ploy to artificially push it’s own winner to number 1. I like the Rage Against The Machine song and if I were to purchase one of the songs it would probably be that one. However, I’m not the type who buys singles and especially not at Christmas. The last single I bought at Christmas was probably the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?
It did get me thinking though, why not have an alternative alternative? So here is my choice for an alternative Christmas single: Death of Love by Cradle Of Filth. I jest of course but just imagine if my alternative catches on?
It’s a busy weekend for us. My children’s school disco was Friday night, so I had to be a taxi. In between journeys I treated us to a Chinese takeaway from a shop we don’t often use. the food was really good though but we ordered way too much! Watching the children leave the disco was funny, all hot, sweaty and tired and covered with fake tattoos. Mummies were all red in the face, also tired. At least it finished at 8pm, early enough to get kids in bed and still have some time afterwards before retiring to bed.
Yesterday we spent much of the day in Oxford. I love walking the narrow backstreets of Oxford, its such an old town with such amazing history. My children were playing Harry Potter as we looked into windows of the jewellery shops: it was just like Diagon Alley with the numbers of people. The gargoyles on the colleges also fascinated them. We actually saw the touring show of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and I have to say it was excellent. The stage sets were great and the car effects were magnificent. I loved the car as a kid and it brought all those memories back to life.
Yes, that time of year again. Our tree and lights are now up and I feel a little more festive. I also found out last night that our Wii isn't actually in storage but in its box on the shelf in the lounge. Funny that I've seen the box but assumed it was empty just because my wife said it was. I think she just said that at the time we were talking about a house move before Christmas. That's not happening now, so she's let up a little.
Well, December is racing along as it usually does. We actually went shopping for a few final presents yesterday and my goodness! It was incredibly packed. We thought we'd get there early (tills open from 11am but "browsing time" means some stores open before that). We actually got there at about 10:30 or maybe just before. As it was Sunday, there wasn't much food left in the house so we decided to have a Macdonald's breakfast: it was rammed! We had to find a seat upstairs because it was just so noisy and busy downstairs.
We lasted a couple of hours and even split up to save a bit of time. Then we were all done-in, exhasuted.
I drove home, went upstairs and then fell asleep on the bed for a couple of hours. During which my wife went out again to get a few final items from the local shops. Upshot of the day was that we think we've got most of what we need for this year.
Last night we watched Batman Begins on TV. I haven't seen that film for over a year but I do enjoy it.
