Back From Hols

I've returned from my holiday and have almost recovered! We all had a great time, the stay at the B and B was good and the people there were really friendly and nice to us. We were very lucky with the weather because end of August can be very wet but this time all of the days we were away were nice and sunny, there was some breeze but for the days we were on the beach it was hot, sunny and generally very pleasant. I can only stand so much beach time, so I'm glad everyone was happy to do something different on the last day. My wife doesn't want photos of the kids up on the net so that kind of restricts what I can show of our holiday but here are a few. The wooden frog sculpture was in the middle of a maze in this enormous adventure park calle Moors Valley Park and the beach shots are of Bournemouth beach - I don't know if they convey this but the beaches were fairly empty, clean and very pleasant. I'm happy we went when we did, I think we'd all like to go back and do some other stuff as there is so much to do. We walked several miles each day and my legs are still aching a bit. The nice thing about this holiday is that I feel like I've been away plus I have the added bonus of not having to return to work until Thursday. Yippee!

I'm so glad it's Friday!

Friday's work is over at last and I can begin the process of coming out of work mode. It'll probably take me most of the time I have off to get over being at work. Just when I've done that I'll have to return. But still, I don't want that to grump me down.

I was walking up the road for my last session with the counsellor and I just turned my head in time to notice a cyclist coming up from behind. He went around me but he didn't ring a bell and he was on a pavement. This happens quite often, I hate it. I hate the fact that people ride bikes on pavements. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that people use bikes rather than cars its just that cyclists are very vocal about their rights on the road - so they should respect pedestrians rights on the pavement. A couple of weeks ago I was walking back from town and about 5 small kids on bikes cycled past again on the pavement but very erratically. If I was an old person, unsteady on my legs, it would have been very scary. One of the little brats shouted "Scuse!" as if I should have to step aside to let him past, he gets 1 point for alerting me to his presence but -5 points for his bad manners. I've a mind to run the next cyclist I encounter when I'm in my car off their bike!

Someone at work has really got me wound up. I have had to stop myself from sending an email with my true feelings in it. I want to object to what they're doing but it's not my area of work anymore. I hate it though because I can see something I've worked on just being poured down the drain. It stinks that I haven't even been consulted. There are good ways to do things and bad ways. When someone comes in from outside and makes decisions without consulting people who understand more than they do, I think it's arrogant and bad for business. I hope someone does the same to them.

I don't think I'll get a chance to do any blogging or read anybody's blog until near the end of next week. I'll miss you guys, but my eyes have gone to shit recently. I could probably use the break from the screen. See you next week, my friends.

The Descent

I saw The Descent a couple of weeks ago. I've posted a review on my Multiply pages here. Check out whether I liked it or not.

The Beach Beckons...

For some time my wife and I have appreciated the need to get away from it all with the kids and have a family holiday. Today, I booked three nights away next week by the beach for us. It's been a couple of years since we last went away. I hope the weather is going to be nice and sunny for us. We'll find stuff to do if not, but it would be nice to be able to just lie on the beach without a care in the world. I've had less than 5 days off all year so far, I really need this break so I hope it will be good. The lady who owns the place we're going to be staying in sounds really nice.

New Captain Scarlet - pretty darn good

As a kid I loved the Gerry Anderson puppet shows. The vehicles were great and the stories were set into the future and had a good sci-fi slant to them. The shows are enjoyable for adults as well as kids, I enjoy watching the shows we have on VHS with my kids - who adore them. So, with some trepidation I loaned series one of New Captain Scarlet out the library. It's CGI, a medium that is quite hard to get everything right in. I've seen some shows that I thought were good and ones not so, mainly it's the story that lets them down - the graphics are generally quite good: the flexibility in camera angles can get you closer to the action. Sometimes the characters don't have expressive faces or body positions, sometimes little details like hands, elbows etc. make the CGI characters seem oddly shaped.
These comments are bout CGI in general though. I have to declare that I'm terribly impressed with New Captain Scarlet. The stories are probably the most engaging thing but the action is great and so are the vehicles. You can tell that money has been spent on all aspects from graphics, script, music, direction and actor's voices. I recommend it to anyone.

Oops he did it again!

Well done to that jazzy cat, Ryan. He has yet again proved he has a brain the size of a planetary system (or just had a misspent youth watching cartoons) - either way I'm impressed that another previously unknown action figure has been identified. This time it was a Shadowkhan Ninja Warrior from the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures. It's a cartoon series I have never seen.

Aeon Flux

I watched aeon Flux last week, and here is my review of it. Read what I liked and didn't like about it. Other films I'd like to review include Lucky Number Slevin and Descent, those reviews to follow soon.

Guess Who Again

I need help again folks. I'd like to identify the figure in these photographs. On the sole of one of his feet is 2001 API. His right arm is spring loaded and chops down if you push it up. Is he some kind of Ninja character perhaps? Any help very gratefully appreciated.

Miami Vice

I saw this on Monday night. You can read my review of it here and hear about why I enjoyed it.

Musings on the cinema

I've been to the cinema a few times lately and I thought I'd put down a few thoughts, maybe there is something in here that you recognise too?

The first thing is the screen. How much has the screen technology changed over the last fifty years I wonder. The projection machinery has probably got smaller and less prone to bursting into flame but really the picture quality hasn't drastically improved between what it is now and what I remember as a kid. It's even more stark for me since I had a bit of an epiphany as I stood infront of a flatscreen HDTV in the John Lewis store recently. Honestly, I was watching a film that was shot at various locations (by a river, by some snowy mountains, by a forest etc.) and it was like being there - or seeing a photograph. I hadn't realised or appreciated before just how clear a HDTV is compared to normal TV. Our own home TV is a cheap-ish 21 inch, with no special features really. It sort of blew me away.

The second thing is the size of the popcorn and drinks. They're giant food, no mortal human can consume that much popcorn and Coke. Surely? Actually, it is possible to eat down to the bottom of the popcorn box but it is so full with unpopped corn that, frankly, the hit rate of getting a good popped corn is very low it makes it not worth the effort. I do like the holes in the armrests to put your drink in, I wish we had those at home - that would be good.

The third thing is the adverts. Man, do they ever end? It used to be the case that you could enjoy watching an advert about a local florist or local tandoori restaurant and laugh at how badly produced they were. Now, most adverts are either about a cellphone company, an alcoholic drink or a car. They're all so bloody clever nowadays. They're over-produced so that you can't work out what they're advertising until the very last shot, when you say "Oh, I get it now". I bet the advertisers are grinning smugly about how clever they are. Gits.

The fourth is the floor. I think I know where the Coke ends up. My feet just stick solidly to the floor under my seat. I hate having to peel my shoe up off the floor to occasionally move my feet. It makes me feel urrghh. Like soiled.

The fifth thing is the price of stuff. The tickets are highly priced (unless you go on a cheapie Tuesday with all the other scruffnecks) as it is but when you add the cost of foodstuffs too, no wonder people buy DVDs - it's much cheaper.

My final thing is the selection of movies, would you believe that Garfield 2 is missing my local cinema. I enjoyed the first Garfield movie and was looking forward to taking my kids to see the second. Now I found out that I can't take them to our local to see it. How crap is that? I bet Snakes On A Plane (good grief) ends up being shown instead. It'll probably end up being a smash movie, Snakes On A Plane - who the hell thought that one up?

Night Watch

I finished this film tonight, thought it was great. You can read my review of it here.

Last night I went to the cinema with my wife and saw Miami Vice, so I'll be writing a review of that soon too.

Saturday Salvo

Perhaps this title is in bad taste, bearing in mind the rockets flying in another part of the world. However, that particular war is making it very difficult to watch the news these days. Mostly, I watch with a sense of numbness. War is just so.....violent. I read about Dr Stephen Hawking asking the Internet to respond with answers to the question:

How can the human race survive the next hundred years?

I haven't actually read his answer but I read someone's summary of it - essentially, it seemed to be saying we have to explore space and spread the human race into new worlds. Great idea, because we're going to blow this world apart with nuclear weapons.

I haven't done much blogging this week, I'm not really sure why. Maybe tiredness, listening to music etc. I like the new Muse album Black Holes and Revelations but I haven't got a clue what the songs are about. I also really like the new Snow Patrol album Eyes Open. I've also been reading a Batman compilation of Scarecrow stories from various decades.

I did watch 25 minutes of the film Domino and when I can get into Mulitply to login I'll write a sort of review, in a way it's not really fair to write a review after only 25 minutes but there you go - that's all I managed before I had to return the film to the library.

At the moment I'm halfway through the film Nightwatch. I also have Lucky Number Slevin and Aeon Flux to watch too. Reviews shall be posted, if Multiply is open for business...

What else have I been up to? I watched something on TV about British folk music and I'm a little enchanted at the moment by Eliza Carthy. I like some folk stuff and I have some friends who can play their own variations of folk tunes but it's not a scene I'm very aware of. From the programme I watched I think there are factions within the scene. Maybe that's overstating it but there seemed to be strong views on what constitutes being folk. I'm not really interested in all that, just let me hear some nice tunes and good songs.

I had a night out with a friend on Thursday. Haven't seen him for a while, we had a nice cheap meal and a pint in the pub around the corner. Some other people we knew joined us, so it wasn't all just us both. It's nice to get out, the consequence though is catching up on my favourite other blogs!

Great Night

I treated my wife to an evening out last night, thankfully I was able to get a babysitter. We enjoyed a nice meal (I had a tangy and tasty Cantonese dish) and then went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at the cinema. I've written my review of this film here.

Today though, I've been so tired I've fallen asleep a few times. That was a long film! I've got Domino to watch before the end of the week, I may go and watch the start of that now, catch you laters folks...

Mystery Identity No More

Well, congratulations to fellow blogger Ryan who has helped to track down the mystery action figure my wife bought yesterday. Thanks man! Thanks also to Misfit 138, who confirmed that the character was not from the He-Man series.

Ryan says:

"Goliath from Gargoyles, boys! Gargoyles was a successful cartoon series originally on ABC and later Fox Kids. Produced by Disney, it created controversy because it was one of Disney's more violent cartoons - lots of guns on the show. It can now be seen on Toon Disney in the States. The show ran from 1994 to 1997 - and was at it's heightest popularity in (drumroll please) in 1995."

Ryan makes it sound interesting, I'd quite like to see the cartoon series now!

Some research following Ryan's lead me to find out that he was sold originally with wings and an axe thing (both are missing) but at least he still roars. The listing where I identified the exact version to buy him was here. You can see his original packaging below. I don't know what he's worth in this state but it cost us 10p and I doubt we'll be approached with offers for him, LOL!

Cars: the movie

I saw this today and have written a review of it here.

Mystery Identity Bad Guy

He's bad and he's mean. He is also unknown unknown. My wife picked him up at a car boot sale today and we have no idea who this guy is. I put some new batteries in him hoping he might say something that would allow us to pinpoint him but no. He roars like a baddie and his eyes light up, that's about it - except he doesn't stand up too well and his arms are the most moveable part of him and they only have a shoulder movement. I don't even know for sure that this guy is a baddie, I might be wrongly attributing this to him.

Can anybody out there help or tell us how we might find out his identity? He looks to me like a He-Man bad guy but I can't find him after a look on e-Bay for "heman baddies". Any help in identifying him will be greatly appreciated.

Putting the Squeeze on

I like English mustard. Give me a plate of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, peas, runner beans, baby new potatoes, roast potatoes, carrots and a small knob of mustard on the side of the plate for my Sunday lunch and I feel like a King. Something is happening lately in the supermarket, normal things that usually come in jars are going squeezy. Like English mustard, for example. Like Marmite, for example. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm no luddite when it comes to squeezable condiments: I have entertained squeezable Heinz ketchup bottles at my table and squeezy Heinz salad cream. I've even pushed the boat out and bought squeezable Hellman's mayonnaise. My wife bought squeezable Marmite into the house and within weeks was complaining that you couldn't tell if the jar was empty or not. The plastic squeezy bottle is the same colour brown as the usual glass bottle variety. An inherent design flaw but at least with the glass jar you could see how much was left and scrape the last dregs out with a knife.
I fear squeezable mustard is one step too far! Let's look at the facts:

• it's hot, so you don't want much of it, you can get a sort of head-rush if you take too much in one go (kind of pleasant sort of pain though, once in a while)
  
• dipping a knife into a jar is a nice, clean and easy way to take all the mustard you want
• no, no, no and NO!

If I wanted squeezable mustard (I don't), I would buy French's American Mustard (I don't). Occasionally, about once or twice a year I have a really strong desire to eat a hot dog loaded up with ketchup, mustard and onions. And over the years I've bought French's American Mustard because each time it's long enough inbetween for me to forget what the taste is like. No offence to my US friends, but it is foul. I like Dijon mustard, so I'm not completely biased towards English mustard. Incidentally, my wife tells me a story that she had a friend load up a hot dog with English mustard in the same quantity as if it were American mustard and to save grace ate it all: then threw up! I'd like to try a good hot dog in the states to compare with what I get over here. I wonder if French's American Mustard is anything like real American mustard. I like the mustard at MacDonald's, that must be American mustard right? I like their mayonnaise too. Oh boy, now I'm hungry again! All this damn food talk!

Postscript: I couldn't find an image of squeezy Colman's mustard on the web. Actually, they don't seem to have a website, there's a Unilever one but I think they should give each product it's own site: for the fans if nothing else!

Krispy Kreme Delicious!

A while back I posted about Krispy Kreme coming to the UK with a shop opening on 4th July near to where I live. The funny thing was, after I posted that, I had a very polite email from Krispy Kreme asking if I would be interested in attending an opening celebration involving champagne and complimentary doughnut. I said YES PLEASE and got my invite in the post, but unfortunately on the day I was working and couldn't make it. I also found out that it wasn't the first Krispy Kreme shop to open in the UK.

Today, I found one in High Holborn in London. Boy, the tube was stifling and humid - very unpleasant. Anyway, I entered Krispy Kreme and picked up an Original Glazed, a Maple Glazed and a bottle of Coka Cola. I didn't sample the delights until I got back to the train station to come home. Wow! The dough was so light and delicious, it was wonderful. Beforehand I admit I had a bit of trepidation because the smell inside the shop was so sugary but seriously, they are great tasting. I'm going to have to try the other varieties. I'm no longer a Krispy Kreme virgin.

Thanks to Tara for mentioning the brand originally. It just goes to show, you never know who is reading your blog!

August

Wikipedia is a wonderful thing. I've gone through August and selected an arbitrary list of events that have caught my eye for some reason, some happy and some some not so. What astounds me about Wikipedia is that there are so many interesting pages on just about anything you could think of and others you would never have thought of. Anyway, enjoy my list and I wonder (with some trepidation) what awaits us this year?

1st 1936 - The Berlin Olympic Games open.
2nd 1932 - Birth of Peter O'Toole, Irish-born actor
3rd 2004 - The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
4th 1782 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is married to Constanze Weber.
5th 1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
6th 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web.
7th 1968 - Birth of Furtive Wangler, writer, poet and artist.
8th 1930 - Betty Boop premieres in the animated film Dizzy Dishes.
9th 1994 - Dilbert (character) is drawn with his necktie down, signifying that he "lost his innocence" with Liz.
10th 1959 - Birth of Rosanna Arquette, American model and actress
11th 1999 - A total solar eclipse visible from Europe and Asia.
12th 1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched
13th 1913 - Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
14th 1885 - Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
15th 1877 - Thomas Edison makes the first-ever recording - "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
16th 1975 - Serial Killer Ted Bundy originally arrested for suspicion of burglary, only to later escape twice.
17th 1786 - Birth of Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836)
18th 2004 - Death of Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
19th 1955 - In the Northeast United States, severe flooding caused by Hurricane Diane, claims 200 lives.
20th 1920 - The first commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
21st 1911 - The Mona Lisa was stolen by a Louvre employee.
22nd 1970 - Neil Young released his album, "After The Gold Rush."
23rd 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies
24th 1690 - Calcutta, India is founded.
25th 1944 - World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
26th 1966 - Birth of Shirley Manson, Scottish singer
27th 1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history (9:02 to 9:40) between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.
28th 1996 - Britain's Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, are divorced.
29th 1966 - Last Beatles concert, in San Francisco, California.
30th 1965 - Rock musician Bob Dylan releases his influential album Highway 61 Revisited featuring the song "Like a Rolling Stone."
31st 1997 - Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.

Bad Dates

This is a little bit scary for the single people out there but you have to remember the bad guys are a very small percentage. I've had dates that were just bad and I usually squirm in my seat when I think of them, the good part is they are just a memory. Being able to walk away is a mercy in its own little way, be grateful for small mercies I say. My advice to the guys is learn from your mistakes and move on. You were lucky to get a date in the first place.

This story is about the meanest date ever. The lady in question didn't take the bait and never went on a second date with the guy. However, that wasn't the end of it. He had no concept of normal behaviour and went in pursuit of half the cost of dinner. I don't think it was about the money. He was arrogant, stupid and not mature enough to deal with a personal relationship in the first place.

Doom reviewed

Okay, I've written and posted my review of the film Doom here, thanks for stopping by.

Shedding some light on the matter

Apparently, a prisoner just "woke up" one morning to find a lightbulb up his ass. Okay, so its obvious he did it - you just don't sleep through something like that, right? But, at the end of the day I can understand a prisoner hiding some kind of tool or weapon up there (or drugs) but a lightbulb? What's the point of that? Perhaps he's part of a requisition crew that are supporting the tunnel crew who are digging under the prison. Obviously, they'll need light down there. I think the authorities should be warned.

Some good comments here.

Chocolate May Harm Your Health

It's a bit scary when you know salmonella can get into something like chocolate. I thought that a bug like that would have a "shelf life" that was only very short lived. Apparently not. It's frightening how contaminating some foods can just wipe out so many people at once. Chocolate is something so many people can't live without. Personally, a bit of chocolate now and again is a great experience - I don't have too much but a slab of Belgian chocolate every month goes down very well.


More info here.

Robert Downey Jr

My wife is a great fan of Robert Downey Jr. Apparently he's writing an autobiorgraphy. More here.

Heat: Have Mercy!

The last few days have been hot with high humidity, making the heat feel worse. Even rain today hasn't managed to cool things down. I work upstairs and it has been very tiring due to the heat.

My wife has been doing hours of work on the computer for her job, hence my lack of opportunity to actually get on and do some blogging. I have been downloading a few podcasts though, so I guess that has taken some of my time up too. Here are the ones I've been listening to:

NYUB
The Alternative Music Show
Radio 1 Unsigned
KCRW Today's Top Tune
XFM Sessions
Take Your Medicine

They are all music related, I like The Alternative Music Show because the presenters Eric and Sara Skiff seem so laid back and nice as people. They have a nice little chat inbetween some really good mellow tracks.


From the library today we borrowed two films: Creep and Doom. I'll let you know what I think once I've watched them. I used to love playing the Doom computer game but films based on videogames are usually notoriously bad, so my hopes aren't high.

The Lost Boys is on TV tonight, might give that a go I think I've enjoyed it in the past. The good news on the film front is that Film Four changes from a subscription based channel into a free digital channel tomorrow. That' s a great move and I'm looking forward to watching some great popcorn films over the newxt few years. Maybe I'm looking forward to the popcorn too!

Roasting Temperatures

The heatwave we're having seems to be showing no signs of stopping, today was the hottest so far - in terms of recorded temperatures. I'm not sure how accurate a picture the recorded temperature represents though, I'm sure that for people in cities who are trying to do a job get it worse. I had a long day today myself: walking, several trains, a bus and a taxi were involved while carrying my laptop backpack. At Kings Cross Station I stepped off an air conditioned train and walked into the waiting area just by the departures boards where loads of people were waiting for trains and the heat was stifling. Everyone's face was glazed with sweat. My hair is shaved very short so sweat runs down my face quite easily, so I have a glazed look about my face quite often but for everyone to have that appearance was shocking to me. All of my trains were delayed for various reasons but one was that the heat caused the rails to expand, so there were speed restrictions along the route. So I left the house at 8am and got back at 8.45pm. An ambulance was outside a neighbours house, hope she's okay - she lives with her husband and she has epileptic fits, it's not the first time an ambulance has been called but it is worrying. The drugs don't seem to be helping her and this weather might have set her off, you just don't know when its going to happen next. Our bedroom is going to be sweltering, so I'm going to take a shower and just try and stay really still. No bed rocking and creaking tonight (yeah, like that's a regular occurrence!). I'll just have to think of Iceland, penguins and seals. That'll cool me down.

My Fantasy Dream Car

I came across the Bristol Cars site yesterday and fell head over heels in love with a car. It doesn't happen very often ('67 Pontiac Firebird convertible, '63 Chrysler Imperial Crown, oh actually I could go on all day...) - then again, maybe it does!

I love this description. It just sounds wonderful. I'd very happily drive this car, it's worth more than my house but I don't mind if someone wants to buy it for me. Please?

One Red Paperclip: Result

I posted about this website before. A guy traded a small red paperclip for a pen first of all and then continued trading to see if he could eventually get a trade for a house. It looks like he suceeded in his quest. Quite an achievement. There are plenty of people who wish they had thought of the idea first, me included! Wikipedia article listing all of the trades.

Saturday Variety

A varied bunch of news and thoughts for a Saturday.

• I saw a bit of The Incredible Hulk today on TV, the version with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno. The pace is a lot slower than films of today, that's not necessarily a bad thing. My wife has Lou Ferigno's autograph, just thought I'd mention that. I prefer the most recent Hulk film.

• My wife bought me a Micro Scalextric set yesterday, it was reduced to 13 pounds from 40. It's great fun, I was playing with my kids with it today. I remember Scalextric racing cars and tracks from my childhood, my brother was well into them. That was the bigger track with bigger cars. I remember that they used to smell of rubber and a sort of burning. I think it was because my brother had a lot of Scalextric track that I was never actually bought any as a kid. He had a lot of Hornby trains and track too. He took all of his toys when he left home. I was bought a racing set called TCR, which stood for Total Control Racing. TCR was a smaller track and cars but did have the features that the cars were able to switch lanes. I had a police pursuit set and I think the car headlights had bulbs in them. I don't know if you can buy TCR sets anymore, I haven't seen them for years. On the subject of racing, I think the French Grand Prix is tomorrow. Not that I've seen any races in the F1 season this year. I have been playing F1 2003 on the PS2 a lot, I have wanted a F1 racing game for the PS2 for a while and 2003 is a great version.
  

• Health-wise I'm a bit of a mess. I've still got my chest infection, so am coughing. I am waiting to attend some counselling sessions to help me work through some stress-related issues. I have a heamorrhoid that hurts when I cough, it just popped up this week to teach me a lesson that when you think you're down something else can come along and get you down a bit further.

• I have been listening to some podcasts this week. I want to hear the new Muse album and I like what I've heard of Lily Allen - she's number one in the UK charts I think. It's not the song I've heard though. I also have enjoyed a song by a group called The Boy Least Likely To.

Catching Up

Our internet connection crashed and burned this week. It has been down since Monday morning and we've been in mourning or retreat or something like that without our beloved net. It's amazing how inconvenient it is not to be able to do anything we normally do on the net. It realy does make a big difference. So anyway, apologies to everyone for not catching up with what's going on. I've got a backlog of emails to work through and stuff to catch up on. Hopefully the connection will be OK from now on...

Games

I like games of all sorts. From simple games you play on paper, through handheld games, console games and games for the PC. I can play chess and strategy games but I don't think I'm very good at them - it takes me a long time to think through my moves and even then I am usually easily beat. I still enjoy playing them though. The main problem with strategy board games I've found is that you need other players who are excited and interested to play with you. I'm thinking of chess , Cluedo and Risk and so on. My wife isn't that interested, especially in any D&D or military strategy games, which I quite enjoy. I've never delved into the whole online gaming experience (except a few games of internet draughts in Windows).
The battle scenarios are quite different sometimes: it's either rolling multi-sided dice or it's taking turns or it's real-time clicking (as in C&C and Red ALert). The turn-based battles in Final Fantasy PS games take some getting used to. I've recently started to play Baldurs Gate II and it is very complicated. I like that, it just takes me a while to get into it. I think it would be easier if I could play with someone who could tutor me. It's so lonely playing games on your own.
Moan moan moan. I love playing games though.

5 Musical Things

I'm interested in music again, it has taken a while but it is back in my life.

5 Things I last listened to on my MP3 player:

1. Hardcore by Lil' Kim
2. Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
3. Pussycat Dolls by Pussycat Dolls
4. The emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey
5. Monkey Business by Black Eyed Peas

I'm interested in what other people listen to, so please tell!

Space Shuttle Success

I just watched the launch of the shuttle Discovery on NASA TV. I'm pleased to say it all looked very smooth. Every time I watch a shuttle launch I'm very nervous about it just exploding into flames. Even though millions of dollars have been spent on safety and camera technology has improved so much that they can practically get to any part of the ship to examine it thoroughly now. It adds to the Independence Day celebrations for the USA very nicely. Have fun guys, doing whatever it is you do to celebrate!

In the World Cup, I've got over my disappointment that England are out. Germany face Italy and Portugal face France tonight in the semi-finals. I'm hoping for a Germany France final.

The weather got a bit mad here between 4 and 5pm. It's been hot and sunny for two weeks or more but for half an hour we had a terrific storm: thunder, lightning, howling winds and lashing rain. I drove over to another part of town (there was a flood across the road) and it was sunny, hot and calm. I couldn't believe it, it was like I was in a different country. It had all finished by the time I got back.

Horror flicks

There's a documentary on TV about sleepwalkers who have committed crimes while asleep. I find it all hard to believe but I suppose it could happen. What do I know? When I was a kid, I had one night when I was found at the top of the stairs moaning. As an adult it is kind of creepy to wake up in the night and find your child standing at the foot of the bed groaning like the kid in the Exorcist. It makes you think of all those horror films where a child is evil, like in The Omen for example.
On the subject of horror films, I watched a bit of the first The Amityville Horror on TV last night. I think parts of that film are hilarious - I have a very warped sense of humour at times. The bit I find the funniest is the nun who pulls the car over to puke. It makes me smile even now to think about it. Also on recently was Halloween H2O, I lost interest after a few minutes.

5 horror films I've probably watched the most:
1. Resident Evil
2. The Wicker Man
3. The Fog (1979)
4. Hellraiser
5. Evil Dead

5 horror films that scare me enough not to watch them alone:
1. The Exorcist
2. The Omen
3. Salem's Lot
4. The Shining
5. The Blair Witch Project

5 recent horror films I haven't yet seen:
1. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
2. The Grudge
3. The Descent
4. Wolf Creek
5. The Village (2004)

Out of touch

There was a news report on TV last week that said a lot of expensive artwork and property in the high class parts of London were being bought up by wealthy Russians. Excuse me! What happened to property is theft? Sheesh, I'm out of touch. I didn't think there were any wealthy Russians. Actually I've never met a Russian person in my life as far as I know. I've met Poles and Hungarians and that's probably as Eastern block as I've ever got. My geography is so bad, I can't even draw where Hungary is on a map! What am I babbling on about?
I met a talkative American guy on the bus in London today, he's on vacation to Britain and Ireland. He was last here 38 years ago. That's longer than I've been alive, just! We had a nice chat but I had to get off, so I hope he has a nice trip and safe journey back to San Francisco. I'd actually love to visit San Francisco. It does set me to thinking about how large the world is and how only a minority of us ever get to really become well travelled. That's a great shame because I'm sure there would be less war, death and destruction if we just concentrated on being friendly world neighbours. Everyone's lives would be so much improved, we'd get educated about other cultures and there would be less prejudice. If I was World Leader I would make it mandatory for all world citizens to have to visit every continent in their own lifetime (I drew back from every country because that would just take too long!)

Room Lighting

Describe your preferred (compared to your actual) lighting in your rooms:

1. Sitting/TV room:
My preference would be for mood lighting, changeable depending on the weather and the music I play. When watching TV, I prefer just soft lighting.
In reality, we have soft alcove lighting behind frosted glass and a central lightbulb behind a big paper globe shade

2. Kitchen:
I prefer a 100 Watt tungsten uplighter, with lights in cupboards and lights under units illuminating work surfaces.
We have an uplighter but it's 40 Watt and we have a spotlight in the ceiling but it's position is not great. I like a really bright clean feel to a kitchen but we don't have.

3. Bathroom:
I love naturally light bathrooms where the sunshine pours in during the morning. At night, I like bright but warm colours.
Our bathroom is quite big and does get the morning sunshine, we painted it yellow so it has a warm feel. There is a bulb behind a white glass ball in the centre of the ceiling. It's quite bright but is an energy saving bulb, like most of the others in our house, and takes a few minutes to reach its brightest.

Again, do this if you feel like it.

5 Things

Five things I can see nearest to me as I type this are:

1. Two bottles of PVA glue
2. A sheet of smiley face stickers
3. My Sony camcorder
4. An old filofax I only use to look up old addresses I haven't transferred
5. My daughter's Star Wars drawings in a plastic wallet

It's not compulsory to do this, but if you want to, go ahead.

Weekend with the folks

My folks came down this weekend and we've been out and about. It was exhausting, lots of walking and the kids love seeing their grandparents. The weather was Tip Top too. It's funny what little nuggets you learn about your past from time to time from your folks. Like their version of your history being slightly different to how you've come to see things: my God that's a clunky way of saying they have a different perspective! Where have my writing skills gone this evening?

I've been watching lots of World Cup, England got through to the last 16 - FAN BLOODY TASTIC! David Beckham truly has a golden foot, apparently he puked after scoring because he was so dehydrated from running so hard in 30 plus temperatures. USA got knocked out, I think they had a very grueling game against Italy - I don't think the scoreline reflected the effort they put into the game though. Netherlands also got knocked out by England's next opponents, I hope their supporters cheer England on rather than Portugal. It sounded like the referee completely lost it with handing out two red cards and sixteen yellows, or something stupid like that.

Wimbledon started today, I don't know how much tennis was actually played. I don't really watch much tennis on TV. If I do it tends to be the finals. I find the scoring a bit odd, like nil being called love and it going up in 15s. It took me a few years as a kid before I finally got the hang of it. I don't know how much tennis was actually played today, it was a bit of a wet day here.

Big Brother starts to get more interesting this week. Apparently, they're bringing in 5 brand new housemates who are going to live in a house right next door to the existing lot. The two groups will be in isolation except the public vote for a current housemate to enter the new house. I can't wait to find out who it is. The house has had a few horrible bitchy people in it this year, I'm glad to say the public have booted them out. The worst offenders were Grace, Seezer and Lisa who have gone but I'd also like to get rid of Imogen, Lea and Nikki.

My voice is barely audible today, I'm so hoarse after coughing hard all weekend. It's progressively getting worse. I hate coughs and colds - if I had three wishes, one would be to rid the world of the cold/flu. Have a good week folks.

Festivals Galore

I bought a copy of NME on Tuesday, it had a free CD of live tracks by some new bands. Going through the pages I was amazed to see how many music festivals there are during the summer in the UK. It makes me nostalgic: I remember the excitement of watching bands all day and night, returning to my tent but not falling asleep until the dawn breaks, camp fires burning all night, distant drumming going on constantly, people being chilled out, friendly, wearing almost nothing except crusty old Doc Martin boots, the tattoos and piercings. Quite a different world to my existence then but a world away to my life now. Festivals are exciting but can also be a little bit scary, you've no idea who you'll meet and sleep a few feet away from. It's all pot luck. I used to go to festivals on my own, I don't know whether I am strong enough to do that now.

Loss & Recovery

Ah, it feels good to back. My internet provider were screwing around trying to do the prep work for rolling out an 8MB service this coming August and it did soething to stop me connecting. It's funny how we've had almost 100% service levels for quite some time and had grown used to it. We rely on the internet like we do a utility service like a water or power company. We can do so many things from home because of the internet: from doing our banking to deciding what we're doing this evening. I'm just relieved that it was just down for a day and a half, any longer and I'm not sure what I would have done.

Monday Moan

It's been a hectic few days at Fort Wangler. Car trouble, summer fetes, birthday parties and friends staying over have all played their part. The weather has been hot and I've still got my cough, which has turned into a reverberating bark that makes my neck and head hurt, it also keeps me awake at night. The weather is a little fresher today, the breeze is quite cool and pleasant. Inside though it is warm and humid, we've had some summer rain this evening.
Our main car is in the garage again, second time in a week and it's annoying that whatever the problem is wasn't fixed first time.
It was Father's Day on Sunday and I received nice cards from the kids. I didn't get the day to myself though, which was what I was hoping for. Apparently, I get a day sometime in July - we'll see if that ever happens. I did have a couple of hours to myself though. The funny thing is, before I was married I lived alone and I had exactly the same problem as I had for those two hours: plenty of time but indecision on how best to use it. It used to drive me to despair sometimes that I didn't have anyone to share my time with and I always had the feeling that I could be doing something better if only I knew what it was. I think the answer is to make as many friends as you can, be a social butterfly and someone will always invite you to do something with them.

Music Groups A to Z

List your favourite groups from A to Z. No solo artists but groups beginning with a "The" are allowed in my rules. Here's my list:

1. Air
2. Black Eyed Peas
   
3. Coldplay
4. Datsuns (The)
   
5. Elbow
6. Foo Fighters
   
7. Goldfrapp
8. Happy Mondays
   
9. Iron Maiden
   
10. Jane's Addiction
    
11. Killers (The)
    
12. Limp Bizkit
    
13. Mudhoney
    
14. Nirvana
15. Oasis
16. Pink Floyd
    
17. Queens of the Stone Age
    
18. R.E.M.
    
19. Soul Asylum
    
20. Thrills (The)
    
21. U2
22. Von Bondies (The)
    
23. Wishbone Ash
    
24. Wonder Stuff (The)
    
25. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    
26. Zero 7
    

England play later today! En-ger-land! En-ger-land!

Film Meme

1) Total number of films I own on DVD/video:
A rough guess that the number of films I've personally acquired, excluding ones my wife has bought, probably totals about 45.

2) The last film I bought:
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

3) The last film I watched:
Elektra (I didn't finish it, thought it sucked).

4) Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
The Big Lebowski
The Transporter
Unbreakable
X-Men
Spiderman

If you feel like doing this, give it a go, but I won't hold you to it ;-)

You've got to laugh

When stuff gets you down, you've got to find something to pick you up. The Simpsons has been making me laugh for years. Here are a few quotes, while I go watch the World Cup highlights!

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Marge: This is the worst thing you've ever done.
Homer: You say that so often that it lost its meaning.

Homer: [Meeting Aliens] Please don't eat me! I have a wife and kids. Eat them!

Homer: Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.

Homer: I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around a city, keeping its speed over fifty and if its speed dropped, it would explode! I think it was called ... "The Bus That Couldnt Slow Down."

Homer: When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power ... like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

Homer: Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another woman!

78.8 Degrees

This is about as hot as I like it, which is why I'm careful about when I travel on holidays and where I go. I'm probably more comfortable in the lower 70s but high 70s are OK in short bursts. People look much better in summer clothes than all wrapped up in big coats.

England's first match of the World Cup is later today, I don't think Paraguay are a walk in the park. Everyone seems to predict an England win but football is not so predictable. I just hope that England can break Paraguay's defence down without being exposed on the counter-attack.

All the talking is over now guys, let's just DO IT! Go England!

Here's Michael Owen like you've never seen him before!


Posts that contain "world Cup" per day for the last 30 days.

Handy Google Hint

This week I was pleasantly surprised to discover something else I think is great about Google. I knew it could do math but it also makes conversions the simplest thing ever. Want to know what something in degrees celsius is in farenheit? Just type: 75f in c in Google's normal search box and you'll get the answer.

Other examples are:

11 stones in pounds
20usd in euros
10oz in cups
5 teaspoons in fl oz

World Cup 2006 Begins

The action begins later this afternoon - lovely jubbly! Here's my own motif for the competition.I'll post other World Cup drawings over the next few weeks on the sister blog to this one, Dinkums and Doodles. My first World Cup drawing of England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was a bit a of a disaster (I hope that isn't predictive of how the competition is going to go for us), you can view it here.

Stuff 'n' Stuff

Hello apparently are paying out 4M for the first exclusive pictures of the Bradgelina baby, I find that obscene. Maybe it's my imagination playing tricks but did I also read though that the couple of giving it to charity? If they are, fair play to them.

The World Cup starts on the 9th June, I can't wait! England's first match is on the 10th against Paraguay, that will be interesting. I was listening to the radio yesterday and a marriage counsellor was advising female partners to be understanding and try to join in rather than making it stressful for all. I happen to agree, life is about give and take - as long as male partners try to enjoy stuff the girls like too.

Free digital TV is going to be getting better with FilmFour starting soon. They usually have some good films on show. Also, Channel 5 are going to offer two more channels - one for kids and women and another for US shows. Cool, I like to watch US shows too. On our More 4 channel I like to watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

I'm back at work but my cold is still shitty, I wish it would just go. My wife asked if I had an unsettled night last night, I didn't wake up but I think I had some strange dreams - I just can't remember them now!

The other annoying thing is that we've had about 2 weeks of pretty nice weather and they have imposed a hose pipe ban. If the hot weather continues, I wonder if we'll all have to use standpipes in the street - that would be awful! Shortages of anything are horrible but when something as taken for granted as water is being restricted it is getting really serious.

X Factor - Dismal TV

Last night I watched a bit of X Factor with my wife (inbetween Big Brother) and I have to say it was bloody dismal. The performers singing were all "celebrities", a mixture of ex-soap opera stars, DJs and sports people. The standard of singing was very poor. The judges were sucking up to the acts and using excuses like the personalities were "entertaining" - but it's a singing competition! I'm so glad that I haven't watched any of the shows so far. Part of the final was enough for me. I wanted to put my foot through the TV after just a couple of minutes, it's really the worst TV anybody could make. Bad bad bad!

Krispy Kreme - coming soon!

Tara posted several weeks ago with a Krispy Kreme Appreciaion Day. I didn't think they had made it to the UK but they have! It turns out that my nearest store will open on the 4th July! I just think that is so weird, you couldn't predict that sort of coincidence, it must be predetermined surely?

72 Degrees

It's been a beautiful weekend, today has been exceptionally lovely with fine weather. Last night I went out to a pub to watch the coolest band called Bootstrap play. Very good indeed, lots of people were dancing. I've been going to this particular pub for years now and I heard last night that they are going to knock it down to build a car park! It would be such a great shame to lose somewhere that's been a big part of my life. Especially so to a fucking car park!

Jedi Name

I'm suffering with cold at mo, here's something unoriginal...

Cast off your old name! Your Jedi name is WANFU WILON of the planet Ventalin! Find your Jedi Name!

Tagged: Simple Pleasures

Tara tagged me with this one: list your top ten simplest pleasures. I haven't thought too much about this, so here goes with a list that will probably be different in, oh, about another hour...

1. Playing air guitar to a favourite song
2. When a photo you took turns out to be a lot better than you remember
3. Waking up thinking about work and realising it's a Saturday, so you don't have to go in
4. Sharing a joke with someone you never met before
5. Winning something from a competition you once entered and instantly forgot
6. Finding a great bargain when shopping (something you've been held back from buying because of cost)
7. Waking up early feeling really refreshed
8. Returning to your own bed after several nights away
9. A nice warm relaxing bath early in the morning before anyone else is up
10. The feeling of completion after painting a room, bringing the furniture back in and realising it looks just great

In the News

Well, it's been an interesting few days for news for me - several things have caught my eye.

• Brad/Jolie baby is being called Shiloh Nouvel, which apparently means New Messiah - if this is true for fuck's sake! What kind of state of mind are they in??
• There was a nurse, I think in her fifties, who decided to walk to the bottom of her garden for a spot of sunbathing - IN THE NUDE: shock/horror. Her male neighbour (who was decorating his house) saw her walking down the garden and took photographic evidence and took the woman to court for indecent exposure. She was found not guilty - but for fuck's sake shouldn't the guy have been arrested for taking the photographs? What a fucking hostile way to treat your neighbour!
  
• Derren Brown and Derek Acorah have had a fight in a hotel apparently - they both have these TV shows that are creepy but Derren tries to de-mystify a lot of the psychic stuff Derek tries to lay on people. I prefer Derren, in a show I saw recently he hypnotised Robbie Williams and put skewers through his arms - boy I'd have loved to do that!
  

Weekend Away

We travelled North and stayed with friends this weekend. They live a few miles away from a lovely little village called Knaresborough. It is home to Mother Shipton's Cave, as well as the cave there is a petrifying well that turns stuff hanging underneath it to stone as the minerals are deposited. There are hats, teddy bears, practically anything you care to name hanging under the well. You can see some of the stuff from the shot below, there was also an old iron kettle hanging up too! The website gives more details.

We also visited the Lightwater Valley themepark. I am not the world's best theme park attendee, you see I am absolutely no good at all with rollercoasters or any other ride that spins round or propels you high into the air. I did have a go at the go-karts though and the orange kart in the picture is me pulling into the pits at the end of my 5 laps. I didn't win but I had a lot of fun. A good weekend away, all in all.

Payback Time

Imagine you paid a lot of money for a laptop on eBay. What if the seller took months to get it to you, despite quick payment? And what if it was actually broken when you finally received it? What could you do to get your own back?

Curious? See here. How awesome is this as a way to pay the scumsucker out? Cool!

Week Over (nearly!)

I'm pleased that the last two days are over with, I've had to get up at 5.30am for the last two days to catch early trains and I'm exhausted. My itchy eye problem is back, I'm very conscious that it waters as well. I think I'll have to get some ointment tomorrow from the pharmacy.
The weather turned out to be quite warm this afternoon, except in the train carriage where the aircon made it so cold!
On Monday it is a public holiday, so we're going away to friends for the weekend in the North of the country. I'm taking some extra holiday next week, so we're hoping to take the kids to a country park on Tuesday. One thing that is unsettling is that there have been two burglaries in the neighbourhood recently. I'm a bit worried about leaving the house even for a few days. We have nieghbours who can keep an eye but it doesn't stop us being concerned about it.
I've been playing videogames again recently, I cooled off on them since January, my interest is picking up again. Although, I don't think I'll be getting a PS3 when they are released looking at the cost. I would rather spend a lot of money on a tablet PC, I could draw larger digital pictures with one of those and I love the way the screen turns around. I like this one, I think just the name Lifebook sounds great doesn't it?
Also, this week I've met some really nice people at work. They happen to be from Europe but their English is perfect. It has made me feel quite ignorant that I don't speak in their languages.

Shahbaz Leaves

Big Brother contestant Shahbaz has decided to leave the house. He was actually an entertaining housemate to watch and I'm disappointed he has gone. The other housemates turned on him and hunted him like a pack of wolves. It really is interesting psychology to see how the will of the pack is stronger than people as individuals - in the diary room we see people expressing some regret at the departure of a fellow housemate. But outside of that intimate personal reflective space, the pack is hunting and nobody intervenes to defend him. It does have to be said that Shahbaz was emotionally unstable and obviously has a lot of issues that cannot be resolved by a TV gameshow. I wonder how his departure - particularly the nature of it - will affect the other relationships in the house?

Is it really just Monday?

It's been a funny sort of day, I'm glad it's nearly over. The weather has been odd too: one minute it's chucking it down with rain and the next it's bright and sunny. It's a few degrees colder and it makes all the difference, it's just got a little too cold for me. I like to be able to wear a T shirt indoors without any heating on and without ever feeling it's too hot. Today a few times I had to find my fleece to wear. I did have to take it off again when I got too warm at least. But wearing a fleece in May isn't good is it?
I hope tomorrow is a better day than the one I've had today. Don't ask, I just need to tell you: kids and cars (have caused their separate headaches).

Eurovision 2006: Results

The contest is over and Finland are the winners, with a group that were dressed as monsters and who had a song titled Hard Rock Halleluah. It's sort of the right result for the Eurovision - for me at least, in the tradition of the winner being totally unpredictable (and a bit crap).

The final placings were (my placings for them in brackets):

1) Finland (8th)
2) Russia (7th)
3) Bosnia & Herzegovina (12th)
4) Romania (joint 2nd)
5) Sweden (joint 4th)

My winners didn't really make it in the running (actual placings in brackets):

1) Norway or Croatia (a very disappointing 14th and 13th respectively)
2) Romania, Turkey, Ukraine or Lithuania (4th, 11th, 7th, and 6th respectively)
3) Spain (again, a very disappointing 21st)
4) Moldova, FYR Macedonia or Sweden (20th, 12th and 5th respectively)
5) Armenia (8th)

So, I'm disappointed that some good songs aren't going to get airtime and that poorer songs are, especially the winning entry. Last year's entry was at least a worthy winner, My Number One sung by the beautiful Elena Paparizou. She performed an even better song this evening, that I would have made into the winner if it had been entered in the competition.

I got something almost bang on though, as I had the UK entry 5th from bottom and it was actually marginally better at 6th from bottom. It was just not good enough in every department from song, performance, dance routine or outfit.

Eurovision 2006

The day I've been looking forward to for months has finally arrived. Yay! Countries who made it to the final showdown are:

Switzerland, Moldova, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Malta, Germany, Denmark, Russia, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lithuania, United Kingdom (Yay!), Greece, Finland, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Iceland, Sweden, Turkey and Armenia.

The BBC Eurovision website has all of the entrants videos and a final scoresheet (that I've downloaded!) for marking the acts based on:

• Song
• Performance
• Dance Routine
• Outfit

I think this is a fair way of scoring because, being quite frank, all the songs sound the same and tend to merge together in my head. At least scoring on performance and outfit allows me to score acts on the total effort they put in. Am I being too anal about this??? Anyway, in previous years I've been close to predicting who would win.

You can watch it online, it's on the web from 8pm GMT tonight. Blog posts that contain Eurovision 2006 per day for the last 30 days.



My wife will probably be playing The Sims while I'm watching it in the other room. We have never bought or played The Sims before, but for a present this week I bought her The Sims Triple Deluxe which I thought was a bargain because it includes The Sims, The Sims House Party and The Sims On Holiday. I heard her playing it this morning - actually she was complaining that her characters were all too depressed to do anything, so I don't think it's going well. Early days though!

Friday Feeling

I've got the feeling I usually get on a Friday: Great, it's the weekend! A whole weekend infront of me! A weekend without work. Without having to get up to catch a train. Without having to deal with people who just complain all the time. It's a nice feeling.

Unfortunately, it won't be long before I get that Saturday-Over-Sunday-Coming feeling, which is not so good. Then, worse is the Sunday-Evening feeling and the knowledge that once again I'll have to do battle with the idiots.

The point of this post is just to say weekends are too short :-(

BB7 Begins

Well they're in the house now. For the next 13 weeks I'll be keeping an eye on them, deciding which ones I like and who I really can't stand. I think it's going to be fun. There is a ticket hidden in a chocolate bar, the finder gets a free ticket into the house. Personally I would auction it to the highest bidder, I wonder how much a tabloid newspaper would be willing to pay for one? It could mint you for life!

One of those times

It's one of those evenings when I can't think of anything I particularly want to blog about and haven't come across anything all that exciting.

I like my weather pixie on the right nav, I added it last weekend. It's funny that I can hear it's raining outside yet I still check my weather pixie for the weather and I feel a curious sense of satisfaction that it's raining on the weather pixie pic too.

I am having trouble with my image loading program Hello. It just stopped working on my sibling blog Dinkums and Doodles. I've used it previously just because it was the first thing I came to but I have found it not very intuitive and blog-friendly. So I've decided to change but I can't decide which service to use. Photobucket looks good, I've heard of Imageshack and Flickr too. I can't make up my mind. Does anyone have any advice?

It all kicks off this week

I'm looking forward to Saturday when the Eurovision Song Contest is finally on. I'm also looking forward to Thursday when Big Brother 7 starts. Apparently there are talks going on with Noel Edmonds (infamous TV presenter) to host a Deal Or No Deal task. To be perfectly honest, I've seen Deal Or No Deal and I just can't work out that game show. It seems to have no logical thread to it at all. It has brought Noel back to our TV screens again though, I'm not sure that's a good thing though myself.

Funicular Fun

This weekend we visited a town with a working funicular railway, apparently the last surviving inland one in England. My dear departed grandfather was born not far from here and Sunday would have been his birthday. It was fitting the we celebrated by visiting a place dear to him and travelling on the railway - I loved this as a kid and wanted to share it with my children. I'm not sure what they thought of it really, I suspect it is a lot less exciting for them than a theme park like Legoland but as a kid, for me, it was exciting.


On the way up from Low Town.


The view from High Town.

I wanted to make a fake model out of this view but halfway through I realised I only had Photoshop 7 and not CS. I wonder if any another blur filter would work instead?

Galactastic

I borrowed the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica out of the library today. I say new but it's probably on season 5 now or something. We don't have satellite TV, so don't get to see the Sci Fi channel. I'm looking forward to watching it, I've been hoping to see it for a while. The photos of the show look great though, if its half as good as it looks I'm in for a treat.

Knock knock

Person 1: Knock, Knock

Person 2: Who's there?

Person 1: Cows go.

Person 2: Cows go who?

Person 1: No, silly! Cows go moo!

My daughter will love this joke when I deliver it to her in the morning!

Allergy?

The skin around my eyes has been very sore and itchy lately. We live in a town but all around the town are fields of rapeseed. It looks pretty when the sun is on it but it has a very pungent smell that I don't like and I wonder if it has an impact on hayfever sufferers. Now, it's quite a leap of imagination to draw a causal link between my eyes and the rapeseed, so I won't.

It's been nice and sunny and warm the last two days. The street bars and cafe's are thriving with people and everybody has cheered up. The only downside is that the air conditioning is starting to kick in, I like to be warm but not hot. I sat in my train carriage today wearing a shirt, it was pleasant outside so I had taken my jacket off. However, inside the train it was like a fridge! Eventually, I even had to put my jacket on. I for one don't think the sudden changes of temperature are good for us humans, air con should be subtle up until the really hot and humid days start hitting us - then it can be cranked up. I've had some really bad times in my car, because it has no air con, and on days like that I am really envious of people with their posh new motors.

A short one

Quick post. Have to travel today to do a presentation. Worked on it last night. Not very good, I was so tired and my eyes are all itchy because of hay fever. I had to get up at 4.30am but really was up at 3.30am because I was sorting my son out who wet the bed. It's going to be so tiring. At least my presentation is done, even if its not my best work. Catch you laters.

Need a superhero?

I came across this story tonight:

SPIDER-MAN creator Stan Lee is searching for a superhero to feature in a new comic book strip.

Stan, 83, is behind new US TV show Who Wants To Be A Superhero in which 200 contenders will be whittled down to a final 11. It begins on the Sci-Fi Channel in July.

He said: "I’ve never lived in a world of reality so this seemed like the perfect way to find a new superhero."

Stan has been working in comics since 1941 and created Spider-Man, The Hulk and The Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics.

It made me remember my often-dreamt superhero powers: invisibility and a knock-out punch.

Real superheros don't have super powers though, the first British servicewoman was killed in a helicopter attack in Basra on Saturday. What I can't get my head around is that the people the soldiers were supposed to be protecting cheered when the chopper was brought down. How fucking whacked is that? She was 32.

Japanese TV

I've watched those TV shows that show clips from other countries, some of them are funny. I especially enjoy watching adverts from other countries. Perhaps the weirdest of the bunch are the clips of game shows from Japan. They are so extreme in terms of what they put the show contestants through that they make me laugh the most, part of me says it's wrong but another part of me just finds it incredibly funny and despite myself I end up laughing until I cry.

There is a blog called TV in Japan that is a treasure trove of weird and hilarious Japanese clips. I found this particularly weird example. The contestants have to try not to laugh out. Nothing unusual there. But they sit in a classroom which has a TV at the front and on the TV is a language student reading an English magazine. He's bad. Watch as they grimace and hold their faces to keep in their laughter. It's painfully funny. When they do laugh men in masks come in and cane their backsides, big backswings on those canes too, ouch!

Smelly Time

I have a selection of fragrances I like but I'm running low on all of them. I am not sure whether to try a different fragrance or stick to just replacing one. It's an important decision, a bottle lasts me a long time. I wear fragrance depending on what I'm doing or my mood, for work I usually wear Cerutti 1881 and when I'm on holiday I like to wear Boss by Hugo Boss as I bought it while at a duty free shop at an airport. If I'm feeling sporty I try Cool Water. I wear XS probably the least and I wear Lacoste for a change. They each have their place, I don't know if my fragrance wearing habits are typical or not. It feels like I have a lot of fragrances but I have no idea how what I has compares to other men. Is five fragrances typical? Are men usually concerned with this kind of stuff? I have no idea.

Is it better for people to stick to one fragrance they wear all the time? My wife for example, only ever wears Chanel. I do like CK One, I think that might be my next choice but I also like a new Hugo Boss fragrance - I can't remember the name now though. Hmm, these are things I ponder.


This is the smell I wear for work. It's fresh, a little spicy and strong without being overpowering.


This is theonly fragrance here that I didn't choose myself, it was bought for me as a present. I don't normally like receiving smells as presents because I think a fragrance is such a personal choice, this one I liked - I got given Joop one year and hated it. Maybe I'm just ungrateful. This fragrance is fresh, aquatic and good when I'm feeling energetic.


I like Hugo Boss fragrances. This one is a nice gentle, sweet smelling favourite of mine and my wife like me wearing it. I bought it in on the way to Spain and I associate the Meditteranean with it - lazy mornings, afternoon siestas and late night shopping and drinking!


I bought this in France, it has a nice clean, fresh and sweet smell. It's not as strong as the others and is very subtle come the end of the day.


This is probably closest to the borderline of not being my taste. I think it's just over the line on my side. It has a strong, tangy smell, I find it has a quality like a ladies perfume that I'm not so keen on when I first put it on (it can b a bit overpowering) but after a few minutes it settles down. At the end of the day it still lasts well.

Don't pop that spot! a cartoon by FW

A few weeks ago I posted a cartoon called Tainted Milk, I loved Ashburnite's comment "very good story...wierd, but good." I thought it just about summed it up. Well whaddayouknow I've gone and done it again. Here's another tale that'll make you think, make you ponder, make you rub your chin, make you scratch your nose, make you....yeah whatever you get the picture!

I've used speech bubbles but I'm not sure how the text will come out so I've typed the text below each cell of the cartoon. Oh yeah, should I say that any likeness to real people is completely incidental? Nah, that's bleedin' obvious!


Title: Don't pop that spot! A Cartoon by FW


Hey honey! I'm home. I have a little spot on my back, can you take a look?



Sure honey, I'm in the kitchen.



(wife dances around in knock-kneed terror) What honey? What's wrong?



(Wife pulls hair out in anxious panic) Oh nothin', it's just a small pimple, nothin' to worry about.


(body bag)





Sorry lady, it was a spot gone berserk. We did what we could.

The End.

Couplet

Not feeling very creative tonight, here are a couple of links:

Came across this Photoshop competitions site today. There are some good photos here of hybrid sports - combining two photos of relatively ordinary sports and coming up with a new exciting sport.

Computer Stupidities - this has some really good funnies that had me cracking up today. For example:

• Tech Support: "What seems to be the problem?"
• Customer: "When I change my font sizes, the letters change size."

There are plenty more here.

Sad Stuff

I came across a site this evening called the Saddest Thing I Own. People submit photos of objects that remind them of sad memories. I warn you that there are some heartwrenching stories. Everyone must have something they own that reminds them of a sad time, we've all got sad stories to tell.
I have a framed photo of Wonder Woman, there's stripey fake fur around the frame, it was given to me by a friend who died of ovarian cancer. I think about her nearly every day even still.
Sorry to bring the mood down folks but you have to know what sad is in order to appreciate being happy I think.

The Famous Faces Game

My wife and I have a chuckle after I try and draw a celebrity's face. There is usually something not quite right or different about them that makes it hard to sometimes guess who they are. I quite like this quality about my celebrity faces and so I thought I'd share them.

Guess who these famous people are:







Hints:

Top picture: I've mentioned this guy before
Middle picture: This woman is an emancipated lady
Bottom picture: He's very concerned about wild animal welfare but that's a side project

If you liked this game or just liked the pictures, you can check out more of my famous faces at Dinkums and Doodles. It would be fun for me if you want to suggest some famous people you would like to see drawn in my style, I won't promise anything but if I like the suggestions I'll give it a go.

Free Sex Contestants

This made me laugh today:

Two men drove to a gas station for a fill-up because they heard about a contest being offered by the station to patrons who purchase a full tank of gas. When they went inside to pay, the men asked the attendant about the contest.

"If you win, you're entitled to free sex," said the attendant.

"How do we enter?" asked the first man.

"Well, I'm thinking of a number between 1-10, if you guess right, you win free sex."

"O.K. I guess 7, " said the first man.

"Sorry, I was thinking of 8," replied the attendant. "Come back soon and try again"

The next week, the two men returned to the same station to get gas. When they went inside to pay, the second man asked the attendant if the contest was still going on.

"Sure," replied the attendant. "I'm thinking of a number between 1-10, if you guess right. You win free sex."

"2" said the second man

"Sorry, I was thinking of 3," replied the attendant. "Come back soon and try again."

As they walked back to the car, the first man said to the second man,"You know, I'm beginning to think this contest is rigged."

"No way," said the second man. "My wife won twice last week."

More jokes here.

Expecting....

Someone was telling me today that towards the end of the week it will get hot and muggy, with a big thunderstorm at the end of the week. I like the way a good thunderstorm clears the air. I love the freshness of the first few minutes after a damn good storm.

Later this month, in 18 days time infact, it will be The Eurovision Song Contest. An event I love, I mentioned it a few weeks ago but now it draws nearer and I can't wait. My wife thinks I'm crazy but I actually keep my own scoresheet during the show. It's part of the fun for me.

But even before Eurovision, it's Big Brother 7! Apparently, this starts on the 18 May. There is going to be a full length pool and 15 beds at the start. I'm looking forward to meeting a new bunch of people and getting to know and loathe them. I am surprised at the number of couples these shows produce. Well, scratch that, actually with the income that can be generated from the publicity behind these apparent love-matches I'm not completely surprised. It's hard for the people on the outside who were romantically linked before the show to people who develop relationships with other contestants: I mean, how can they compete and they'll never be able to share the experience with their loved one. It must be hard as hell.

Collectormania 9

Every year we seem to find ourselves drawn to this event. It's interesting to see some of these people in the flesh, it's strange to see the ones who are more famous for being children in films as adults. The boy Damien from The Omen was there, for example - but there was no way I would go near! Call me chicken but I don't care, I'm staying clear of the son of the devil.

The closest stars we got to were Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, stars of 80s cop show Dempsey and Makepeace. At the time the original series aired my wife had a bit of a crush on Michael Brandon, I knew and fancied Glynis as the character Soolin from the British low-budget sci-fi series Blake's 7. Amazingly, both looked pretty good considering it seems like a long time since seeing them on the TV.

There were some strange folk walking around though. Lots of people who look like they watch way too much sci-fi/fantasy and don't get enough daylight - and wearing cloaks! Correct me if I seem out of date but the cloak has not been an item of everyday attire for many decades. Seeing 30 somethings wearing cloaks like it was normal just freaked me out a bit. I know I should live and let live and I have seen worse sights but just not all congregated in one place. Imagine being an actor and having to be nice to people who have queued up for hours, people who are "a bit odd" (obsessive even), people who have paid 15 pounds for a photo just for you to sign your name on - the feeling of being stared at and photographed. I'm not sure it would suit me very well.

Anyways, you'll want to see some photos I expect and here they are:

A Dalek from the series Doctor Who, being pushed past me into the market area where you can spend loads of money on very little.

Davros, I think he invented the Daleks, again from Doctor Who. He's ugly as fuck, used to scare the pants off me as a child. My daughter didn't want to have her photograph taken with him, I don't blame her really. My son was up for playing with his switches but one thing you don't want to do is piss off someone who has ambition to be the master of the universe.

The Liberator spaceship from Blake's 7 the first series. The crew (Blake and his six fellow escapees) eventually have to abandon this fine craft. The effects in Blake's 7 are really naff but the stories are quite good fun.

The origins of the Liberator were unknown to Blake and his crew, the ship was equipped with these weapons. They were in two parts, the blaster that looked like a little glass sword and the battery pack in a leather case.

Orac the super computer from Blake's 7 built by a character called Avon, who was played by Paul Darrow in such a great way that you were never sure he whose side he was really on. Orac had a witty line or two for a computer in a perspex box, the lights weren't on today though - a shame because without the lights it just looks like a transparent box with lots of wires.

And Robocop, now I loved the first Robocop film, I still enjoy it today. I still hate to see the bit where he gets shot up as the ordinary human cop. Unfortunately, the other versions of it I've seen are not as darkly humourous as the first. The car was painted a matt black but it wasn't an American car as in the film.