this is just one big brain dump to hopefully help me sleep, even though there are a lot of things on my mind right now…
Year: 2012
Weekend jolly
I’m trying to put together a little trip to Granada, for this weekend. The problem is that I am very restricted in how much time
The cleverness of names
As if a group adopting the name ‘Goonies Never Say Die’ isn’t good enough… A group by that name producing an album called ‘No Words
Sunday evening rambling (not outdoors)
I am drinking decaf tea. Please don’t judge me. I was introduced to decaf tea by a friend. Apparently drinking decaf tea aids sleep. I
Making a list (1)
I love lists. Lists make the world go round. Sortov. I have shopping lists (but one at a time, obv). I have ‘to do’ lists.
Drawing lines – and not in sand
This has been the subject of conversation at work for the last two days. It has also overflowed in to discussions on Twitter. The question
Time to saddle up the CarCam again
Lately I’ve been seeing, on the drive to work, a couple of vehicles that belong to Midland Felt Roofing. They travel in the same direction
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #5
Another post in the occasional series about top quality unsigned bands who had a too-brief and almost too-beautiful burn across this planet of ours… I
The Hunger Games is rubbish
There, I said it. I’ll say it again. The Hunger Games is rubbish. Huge tracts of the media industry are cranking out a sickening level
Teenage kicks?
It’s easy being a teenager. What adult hasn’t thought that? Let’s face it, for most teenagers life is very simple: no work, very few rules
Digital TV reception; is it rubbish for just me?
When this area (OX28) switched to digital, I endured weeks of really awful TV reception. Then I got an aerial guy in to see if
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #4
Another post in the occasional series about top quality unsigned bands who had a too-brief and almost too-beautiful burn across this planet of ours… Hailing
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #3
The sobering thought is that for every single UK-based band who burn themselves out, there must be at least a hundred more burned out bands
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #2
I fell across The Razorbax in a grotty little rock venue in the centre of Birmingham, five-six years ago. It was a grim, sticky-floored, unpromising
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #1
The Witches were an Oxfordshire-based band of excellence. They produced intelligent lyrics that hinted at worlds of longing, depression, love and loneliness. But the Witches
Celebrating the passing of musical friends #0
I’ve spent so much of the last couple of week with my music collection. A little like the character Rob Gordon in Nick Hornby’s excellent
Age does not always equal wisdom
A 90-year old man with poor (uncorrected) eyesight, and in the early stages of dementia, drove his car at 70mph – the wrong way down
Feeling the love (can’t stop laughing)
The funniest video I’ve seen in months. Recorded on ChatRoulette by (and made by and featuring) Steve Kardynal, a genius.
Gagz a plenty
Twitter (no matter how you feel about it) is a medium for good and bad. Yes, utter morons like Piers Morgan spout their meaningless gibberish
Messing with my head
Keen to keep myself at the cutting edge of all forms of technical and non-technical innovation, I have taken the plunge and followed in Blonde’s
What’s in a name?
I’ve never been a big ‘give things a name’ person. But somehow – please don’t ask how, I can’t answer it! – my motorbike deserves
NEPI: a ghostly vacuum
Very late on Saturday night I went ghost-hunting. The venue was a manorial house, the seat of a Scottish estate, less than 30 miles south
Bradley Wiggins v the Flat Earth Society of Cyclists
I am glad that Bradley Wiggins (winner of the 2012 Tour de France and the Olympic Gold Medal for cycling) has called for it to
Knackered (confessions of a plumber, part 4)
I arrived at the house on the fourth successive Saturday morning – toolkit in hand once again. But this time I had the *second* replacement
Knackered (confessions of a plumber, part 3)
Feeling a bit jaded, I turned up the following Saturday with, as well as my trusty toolkit, a small cardboard box containing a complete mixer
Knackered (confessions of a plumber, part 2)
The next Saturday, 10am, I rocked up – toolkit in hand once again – but this time I had the full service kit for the
Knackered (confessions of a plumber, part 1)
7.30pm, Sunday 29th July 2012. Day two of the London Olympics if you need another time reference. I am in bed. Yes, that’s right. 7.30pm.
Fucking cats
There are four or five cats that climb in to my (protected) garden. They piss all over the plants and shit all over the place.
The sun shone so…
… to celebrate, I went for a little spin.
The online dating scene; a view from here
This post is inspired by this blogpost from Chloe. When my marriage suddenly ended, as they tend to end very suddenly under the same circumstances,
Playing with myself
You know what I mean. That irresistible urge. Usually first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Sometimes both. Sometimes during the day
Soccer upset
In a completely predictable upset, this evening in Eastern Europe, eleven Italian millionaires proved they were no match for 11 English millionaires. Post-match analysis conclusively
Culture, vulture?
You know those mobile phone-sponsored flashmobs at St Pancras train station? Well here’s a video of a Scandinavian flashmob, with all the cultured polish that
Friends in places
I know this guy, Chris Bartle (no, not Chris Bartle the Eventer – who I do know, vaguely – this is a whole different Chris
Why this matters: ‘
The difference between: Helping your uncle jack off a horse… and, Helping your Uncle Jack off a horse… is the correct use of capitals. The
Video documentary
The reason: Because of Sammi’s illness, I am looking for a new subject (or possibly two, but we’ll see) for a short documentary film I
Rooting for the router (pt 2)
I decided to follow a variation of Daniel’s excellent suggestion. I ran ping -t for 24 continuous hours and the router behaved itself perfectly. I
Rooting for the router
When my broadband was upgraded, the BT Openreach engineer installed a BT Openreach Modem which he coupled to a (new) Netgear N150 WNR1000v3 Wireless Router.
You can run, Fearne Cotton, but you can’t hide
Talentless uberbimbo, BBC Radio One-presenting chav-in-chief, Fearne Cotton, has made one of the most ludicrous statements to the press. Ms Cotton (let’s not forget she
Two year changeover
It’s been two years since I adopted the Nexus One as my mobile phone handset. It has been a happy two years. Apart from when
It’s all Greek to me
This political debate, shown live on Greek TV, packs more punch than Question Time. The discussion warms up from the outset, but the last 20
Wishing the early morning away
It is 2am and I am awake. I used to be a regular visitor to the shores of the all-too discovered country known as ‘insomnia’.
Two days good. Four days bad
I can not be the only person in the country who is itching to get back to work, surely? Yes, I’ve had a lovely break
On being in love, and not. On companionship, and not
In my commuting moments (which are really ‘daily hours’ rather than ‘moments’) I spend a lot of time listening to music, and thinking. In the
Weekending
It’s been a major week. So I’m going to Rome tomorrow. Just because. Back on Monday though. So, to fit with a weekend in Rome,
Magic, carpet
Monday: 4.30am alarm, in the office at 6.20am, leave the office at 7pm, work like bonkers between arriving and leaving. Tuesday: 4.30am alarm, in the
On not being in two places at the same time
Friday night (25th May 2012) was a busy calendar night. If only my super-power was ‘being everywhere’ I could have gone to the Jonquil gig
What’s in a name? What’s in a place name?
I’m amused to learn that eight of the London 2012 Olympic soccer matches will be played in Glasgow. That’s rather stretching the definition of ‘London’,