Random Musings

The Credit Crunch isn't so bad

2008-11-14T09:59:00.004Z

For all those people that think that things are really bad at the moment. Please spare a thought for the poor folks in Zimbabwe. This was emailed to me the other day via a friend and it made me realise that our troubles are insignificant.

I am in despair. We have been on the slippery slope for years but it is now nose dive mode. We have effectively been cut off from the rest of the world telephonically w.e.f. this past weekend. The landlines hardly ever work for trunk calls. We often have no landlines at all. When we have a power cut the Highlands exchange (which controls our office landlines) goes onto generator power. When they run out of diesel (which happens frequently) the phones die. We offered to supply them with diesel just to get phones back. "No. We cannot accept donations from the public". So the lines remain dead until either power is restored or they get a fresh supply of diesel!! Okay so that is the landlines. "But you have mobiles" you say. Yes we did until Sunday when the network decreed our mobiles could no longer be used to dial any regional or international number. All contract lines (now only good for calls within Zim) have been cancelled and replaced with pay as you go. As in CASH only up front recharge cards in Z$2 million denominations available from only 2 outlets in Harare. The queues to purchase these are horrendous. This buys you 33 mins of talk time when you purchase it. BUT 24 hours later you may only have Z$20,000 left even if you haven't made a single call. Why? Because they devalue the value of your recharge at the rate of inflation! And 36 hours after they introduced this system, they have run out of recharge cards so effectively our mobiles are now useless even for local calls.

Money. I have told the boss to stop paying me. I will work for free. Cash withdrawal limitations for companies mean I can't be paid in cash only by cheque deposit into my bank account. I have no access whatsoever to this money. There are cash withdrawal limits on individuals but that aside the queues to withdraw cash begin at 4 a.m. One doesn't queue for hours one queues for days to withdraw an amount that wouldn't even buy a loaf of bread. Nobody will take cheques any longer (not even ZESA the supplier of electricity). So there the money sits inaccessible and devaluing by the minute. Supermarkets have a few shelves with provisions all quoted in USD. The shelves for provisions in local currency are completely empty.

It is totally insane

I don't know about you, but that makes me realise how fortunate I really am.

Return of The Friday Morning Pub Quiz

2008-10-17T07:06:00.002Z

I've been neglecting my blog(s) of late, so it's nigh time I put a bit more effort in. I've decided that clearly two blogs is a bad idea, as I can't keep one up to date. I'll move the few posts on the other one to here when I get round to it.

Anyway, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry and here's a selection of the questions.

** No using the internet to cheat **

1. What is the capital of Brazil?

2. What do the initials YMCA stand for?

3. Proverbs: What does the hand that rocks the cradle do?

4. Which conservative MP was nicknamed "Doris Karloff"

5. Name 3 of the 4 main characters from the 80s TV show "The Young Ones"

6. What colour was the sea in which the yellow submarine sailed?

Post your answers in the comments...

Excellent Board Game

2008-07-02T15:18:00.002Z

I played a new board game for the first time on Monday night, and it was one of the best games I have ever played.

The game is called Pandemic, and it's a collaborative game, where a number of players basically try to beat the game. We played it twice and lost both times on the easiest level, but I'm sure we'll get better with practise.

I have a new blog

2008-06-06T11:26:00.003Z

This is one I've been meaning to do for a while.

When I'm out and about I like spotting house and business names that are (to my mind) quite frankly daft. Also, other signs that are put up on walls that make you go "what were they thinking?".

It's not likely to be a frequently updated blog (not that this blog is frequently updated any more), but it is exactly the sort of thing that camera phones are jolly bloody useful for.

So, please take yourself along to You Called it What? and have a look.

Cheers
Dave

Asparagus Wee

2008-06-06T08:17:00.002Z

What's that all about?

I love asparagus, especially when it's young, fresh, seasonal and english.

I hate the way it makes my wee smell - why does it do that?

TomTom Nightmares

2008-04-03T08:17:00.002Z

I recently attempted to use the "Latest Map Guarantee" that came with my brand spanking new TomTom Go 720 (present to myself, with some vouchers for 15 years service at work).

What a nightmare it has turned out to be.

After several failed downloads that took 5-6 hours on a 1Mbit broadband connection I turned to TomTom customer support, only to be met with a wall of incompetence.

Problems with the download were blamed on my firewall, my router, my broadband connection, everything apart from the TomTom HOME software, which seems to have a plethora of bugs in the latest version.

When I refused to turn off the firewall on my router and leave my home network unprotected for the several hours that it would take to complete the download I was basically told that they could not help any further. My only alternative was to try another computer on a different broadband connection - sure, I'll just magic one up out thin air shall I?

I'm just glad that I didn't pay for the map, this was a free update. One only has to look to google, though, to find similar tales to mine from people who have paid and met with the same problems and dodgy customer service as I have experienced.

My next stop is the UK Customer Services Director - let you know how I get on.

Blogstipation

2008-03-25T11:48:00.004Z

Well, either that or an attack of procrastination.

For the last few weeks I simply haven't been arsed to update my blog - which is not really that great is it?

Just been feeling that I've not got a whole lot to say about anything. I have had a couple of good ideas for new blogs that i've been developing, so I guess that doesn't help either. No excuse though, 1/10 - must try harder.

Homage to Portal (in Lego)

2008-03-19T08:18:00.001Z

More than 1300 individual photos went into the making of this amazing stop motion film. It is based on the video game, Portal, and features the soundtrack from the game's credits with an all Lego cast.

read more | digg story

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (15)

2008-03-07T11:54:00.001Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. What’s special about the newest “Milky Bar Kid”?

2. What colour is the cross on the Greek flag?

3. Name the sequel to Guy Ritchie’s Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?

4. Anagram: Unravel NO REAL CHARM BENEATH to get the name of a Hollywood Actress.

5. With which 90s band was David Braintree MP the drummer?

6. What nationality was the first Miss World?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

My Dog Eats Shit

2008-03-03T14:45:00.001Z

By far the most popular page that comes up on searches on this blog is the one about my dog eating the shit of all sorts of animals from cats to horses.

This has prompted me to do a bit more research into this, by way of a public service, to help people get the answer to the question “Why does my dog eat shit?”.

Well, it’s known as coprophagia, so off you go to google armed with this new fact, and I hope you find what you are looking for.

In the meantime, if you found this article useful, please consider clicking one of the ads.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (14)

2008-02-29T09:26:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. What is a photophobic scared of?

2. Name the Spanish born actress who has the number 883 tattooed on her ankle.

3. What would a man from Thailand do with his dong?

4. Anagram: Unravel LARGE LADS ALL SCATTER MANURE to get the name of an old TV Show.

5. Where was the first Disney theme park outside of America?

6. Which English County has the longest coastline?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Jumper

2008-02-28T16:49:00.003Z

Went to see Jumper with Karen and Jack last night.

Overall I really enjoyed the film, great action sequences and special effects. it's just a shame that the ending was so pitifully weak.

Did the earth move for you?

2008-02-27T09:57:00.002Z

It certainly did for me!

I was woken at just before one o'clock by a loud crash and a few seconds of the tremors from the biggest earthquake the UK has seen for over 20 years.

There's little else in the news this morning. The earthquake was about 60 miles from here, but it still felt pretty strong.

Pleasantly Surprised by Novotel

2008-02-25T15:45:00.002Z

I had occasion to stay in a Novotel last week, whilst I was away on a training course. I can't say I was looking forward to it as I've always thought of Novotel as a bit on the cheap and cheerful side.

The Novotel I stayed at was Newcastle Airport (although it's a good way from there) and it was actually very pleasant indeed. The room was comfortable, clean and modern as was the rest of the hotel.

One of the things that stood out for me was an interesting twist on part of the menu, where you could have any one of a dozen or so dishes as either a main course, starter or what they called a taster - which was quite a small portion, just to have a try. Nice.

The only thing that let it down was the leisure centre, which consisted of 4 CV machines, a sauna in a cupboard and a puddle in which you could swim a length in 3 strokes.

Ah well, guess you can;t have everything.

Blog Neglect

2008-02-15T15:30:00.002Z

I've been neglecting my blog a bit lately, due to the amount of work I have on. Even the pub quiz has suffered - which is most unlike me.

I'm away on a training course all next week. I don't know whether I'm going to be able to post anything, or even have acess to the net.

With a bit of luck there might be free wireless at the hotel and I can do a few blog updates while I'm away.

Fix the Easter Holiday

2008-02-14T12:23:00.002Z

It's about time the government did something about the Easter holiday.

It makes school terms a complete pain in the arse and it would be far simpler for everyone if it was either fixed at a particular weekend in early april, or perhaps the public holidays that accompany it could be re-assigned. One in February and another in October would be nice.

But, but... what about the religious significance I hear people say. Well, cobblers is what I say, the curch has been arguing for centuries about this supposedly most significant date in their calendar and is still proposing new systems under which the date should be calculated.

There is even provision in the UK to fix the date by law but it has not yet been implemented.

I feel one of those online petitions coming on...

Pre-emptive Doctor's Visis

2008-02-12T11:58:00.000Z

My wife mentioned this to me last week and I found it vaguely amusing.

It seems that this happens whenever there is a public holiday (Christmas and New Year in particular), or the weather forecast contains news of particularly bad weather, like the heavy snow forecast for this weekend.

The doctor’s open surgery gets really busy and all the appointments get booked up with people who just want a quick check-up. “Don’t want to be unwell over the holidays” and “Thought I’d get checked over before the bad weather” – Bonkers!

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (13)

2008-02-01T08:45:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Under which London monument would you find a razor, some cigars and a picture of Queen Victoria buried?

2. What breed of dog was first bred by miners in Yorkshire?

3. What the correct term for the belly button?

4. Anagram: Unravel I’M CLEAN RADIO to get a reality TV Show.

5. Whose real name is Fred Powell?

6. What is the only substance that occurs naturally as a gas, liquid and solid?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Sweeney Todd

2008-01-31T08:17:00.001Z

We went to the cinema to see this last night and thought it was excellent. I was a bit dubious at first, when I heard it was a musical, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Have to admit that it won't be up everyone's street - as evidenced by the comment from a young chap to his girlfriend sat next to us "that were boring".

Johnny Depp plays an outstanding role as the clearly barking mad demon barber, and Helena Bonham-Carter as the equally deranged pie shop owner. I also liked Tim Spall's character, although it did remind me somewhat of his recent role in Oliver Twist; I wonder which one was influence for the other.

I may even have to get a copy of this when it comes out on DVD.

The Orange Box

2008-01-30T10:55:00.000Z

What a feast of gaming this is!

For those of us backward souls that have not played Half Life 2 yet, this is an absolute blinder of a package. No less than five games for forty quid (for the Xbox 360 - less for the PC version). I bought this for my son for Xmas and, while he spends all his time playing Team Fortress on Xbox Live, I've been playing Portal and Half Life 2 - got to say that I am hooked!

Even if you have already played Half Life 2 and Episode 1, you still get Episode 2, Team Fortress and the ubiquitous Portal.

Linkin Park

2008-01-28T08:26:00.000Z

I went to see Linkin Park at Sheffield Arena on Friday night with Jack - his first big rock gig.

They put on a pretty amazing show, and whilst i would stop short of saying it was the best gig I've ever been too, it did rank right up there with some of the best.

There wasn't a song I didn't know and there were a few amazing versions of well known songs (Breaking the Habit for one) that were stripped right down to Mike on guitar or keyboard and Chester on vocals.

If you get a chance to see Linkin Park live, grab it with both hand - you won't be disappointed.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (12)

2008-01-25T08:17:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Name the sweet that Mars and Murray invented in 1940.

2. Which event in the Wild West has had more than 25 films made about it?

3. What are they introducing in Venice to help prevent turbulence and erosion?

4. Anagram: Unravel NICE HILTLER DREAM to get a famous German.

5. Name two of the three Alpine skiing events.

6. In which country did Lewis Hamilton win his first Grand Prix?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Xbox Live

2008-01-24T12:51:00.000Z

I'm a little bit cheesed with Xbox Live gold accounts, and how they only apply to a single gamer profile.

I'm sure I can't be alone in being in a family with more than one person that wants to play on Xbox Live. I like the idea of being able to set up my account separate from my son's account and being able to place age restrictions on his account and not on mine.

The way it stands though, we bove have to pay £40 for a gold account if we want to play Team Fortress 2 (for instance).

It's not like we can both play at the same time, if I had more than one Xbox and wanted to play at the same time I would have no objection to paying extra.

*grump*

Heath Ledger

2008-01-23T07:59:00.000Z

Heath Ledger was found dead at his apartment yesterday.

BBC News story.

It's such a pity, I thought he was a really great actor.

I am Legend

2008-01-21T07:58:00.000Z

I meant to blog this last week, but real-life (TM) got in the way and I had a shed load of work to do, so it kind of got shuffled to the bottom of the pile.

Anyway, I went to see this film last week and was really impressed. Will Smith's performance as a mildly unhinged man who has lived totally on his own for three years in a post-apocalyptic New York was sheer genius.

The film could easily have been overdone; there was plenty of scope for more action with the secondary characters travelling to their final destination. Ending where it did ensured that the impact of the main focus of the film, Will Smith's character, was not diluted in anyway.

Well, as you can tell, I enjoyed it - why not see for yourself.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (11)

2008-01-18T11:43:00.001Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Complete the name of the TV Sitcom. Everybody Loves _________ .

2. What did ITV ban the advertising of in 1965?

3. Which country is also known as The Friendly Islands?

4. Anagram: Unravel GET ON SHEEN to get a UK landmark and heritage site.

5. Whose headstone bears the epitaph “Reunitey in the heavenly-bode - Deep Joy”.

6. Which famous military force has the motto “Better to die than be a coward”?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Mad half hour

2008-01-15T08:56:00.000Z

This is actually a very common phenomenon in dogs and cats, where they go barmy and hare around the house and/or garden for anything from a couple of minutes to the full half hour.

At some point every day our little Terrier has one; it's like a release of energy. However we often get one after a really long walk, so there can't be a whole lot of energy left to release - more often than not once she's finished that will be it for the rest of the evening and she will retire to her bed.

I wonder that it might be a reaction to being let off the lead, but she has access to the garden with plenty of space to run around; it's not like she is cooped up inside all day.

Regardless of what it is, it never ceases to amuse us - must grab the video one of these days to post up on youtube.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (10)

2008-01-11T10:25:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Which city in New Zealand is known as The City of Sails?

2. In which file did Robert de Niro play the villain Max Cady?

3. Who has two friends named Curly and Pie Face?

4. Anagram: Unravel BIGOTS NAMED to get a suprising newspaper headline.

5. “All the teachers in the pub, passing round the ready rub” – Name the song and the band.

6. Name Bernie Winters’ famous TV dog.

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Warmed by the Dear Departed?

2008-01-09T08:29:00.000Z

There was a brilliant story yesterday about a crematorium in manchester that plans to use the heat dissipated by heat exchangers from the furnace to heat the chapel, as visitors had been complaining that the chapel was cold.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic idea - it's very green and otherwise all the heat from the cremation would simply go up the chimney.

The comedy material almost writes itself though...

"if they'd done this at Oliver Reed's cremation it would have been like a sauna in the chapel", etc.

Priceless.

Clean up your address book

2008-01-07T08:48:00.000Z

Last week I posted a message to every single e-mail address in my address book to wish everyone a happy new year and ask them to update me if I was mailing to an address that was no longer regularly check or possibly inappropriate.

I've not cleared up my address book in quite a while and there were 18 bounced e-mails, a couple of which told me the new domain I should try, the rest of which I had to just remove from my address book - no point keeping an invalid email address, is there?

I got quite a few replies back, many from people I haven't mailed in a long, long time. I was able to update a few of the addresses from the replies with new email addresses, as some people had set up forwarders etc.

I'll certainly do the same thing again next new year, rather than leaving it for several years and ending up with so many invalid email addresses, hopefully I can catch some before the old address expires completely.

All in all it was a very worthwhile exercise, and I recommend that you give it a go.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (9)

2008-01-04T08:00:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions. Last night was absolutely heaving – I had to share a seat, one of my buttocks is still numb from the experience.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Name the horse that came 2^nd in the 1975 and 1976 Grand National.

2. What is the capital of Kenya?

3. Where do the Diddy Men come from?

4. Anagram: Unravel TALLY HO LADS VERY ERECT to get the name of a famous novel.

5. The sinking of which ship prompted the Sun newspaper’s “Gotcha” headline?

6. When he married Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip was prince of Greece and which other country?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Get a Bell for your Bicycle

2008-01-03T15:02:00.000Z

Sorry, rant time.

We've been out walking in the Peak District a few times over the holidays and have been surprised a number of times by cyclists on bridleways and country lanes. They approach silently and give no warning as they speed by, or simply scare the life out of you with a screech of brakes, making you dive for the verge.

Twats!

I have a bell on my mountain bike and it really is no effort whatsoever to just ding it a couple of times when I see walkers 20 or 30 yards ahead of me - thus giving them plenty of warning.

Of course there are plenty of counter-twats as far as walkers go, refusing to move at all as you try to cycle past them, complaining loudly about people cycling where it is perfectly legal to do so.

I've had more than a week off

2008-01-02T07:57:00.000Z

First of all, let me wish you all a happy new year, may 2008 be a healthy and prosperous year for all of you.

The last time I looked at my computer was at about 3pm on Christmas Eve. I've had a totally 'net free holiday.

Inevitably I've got a fair amount to clear up this morning:

262 e-mails (190 of which were spam) not including my google mail account
8 episodes of Sluggy Freelance
12 facebook notifications (plus 20 odd other requests)
A whole raft of forum posts
200 Kingdom of Loathing adventures

Well, I've got lots to do - and some real work as well!

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (8)

2007-12-21T08:43:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Alphabetically, which line comes first on the London Underground?

2. Name two countries that have an X in their name.

3. The video for which David Bowie song was censored due to nudity?

4. Anagram: Unravel HITLER TRIED DOODLING to get the name of a children’s fairy tale character.

5. Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia moored?

6. In which Olympic event could you lose 50 points for not smiling?

Answers in the comments next week.

A bit of introspection

2007-12-20T11:36:00.000Z

I've been feeling quite pleased with the fact that my blog is generating a (very) modest amount of traffic.

Then when I looked at technorati and saw my blog's ranking it put even that small modicum of success into perspective - 8,911,336 - that's a long way down.

I was a little more encouraged (and I mean a little) when I spotted this in a magazine.

I've no idea where the stat comes from, but I imagine it's probably short of the mark. From time to time I click the next blog button on blogger and it's not very often that I turn up a live one that isn't a spammer.

BBC puts the faggot back in Christmas

2007-12-19T08:24:00.001Z

From news.bbc.co.uk - "BBC Radio 1 has said it will allow the Pogues' Fairytale of New York to be played on the station uncut, after criticism of a decision to censor it."

Thank goodness for a bit of common sense in the face of blindingly stupid polical correctness. Radio 1 have been playing this song for twenty years, so who the hell got it into their mind to censor it this year.

My other thought on this was that it was all a stunt to garner publicity, a bit of "look, we're not really the politically correct idiots that you think"

Regardless, at least they aren't censoring this classic christmas song any more.

read more | digg story

It's behind you!

2007-12-18T08:01:00.000Z

There are one or two things that I do love about the holiday season, and pantomime is right up there as one of my favourites.

I went to see Jack and the Beanstalk at the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield on Friday night with the Beaver Scouts. The show was excellent fun, put on by a local theatre company as it has been for the last three or four years.

The Chesterfield Pantomime Company have been getting better and better; much more so than when there used to be some unknown soap opera actor from Emmerdale or (heaven forbid) Hollyoaks, and the tickets are a damned sight cheaper for it as well.

Loads of slapstick and a generous helping of toilet humour make the panto fun for young and old alike.

Dame: "Happy anniversary to Mr & Mrs Dyer. Are Mr & Mrs Dyer here?"

Audience: Tee hee *snort* Diaohrrea!

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (7)

2007-12-14T07:58:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Name the current host of Mastermind?

2. Name the twins signified by the constellation Gemini?

3. What is the biggest prison in the UK?

4. Anagram: Unravel ME THAT’S SCREWY to get the name of a singer/celebrity.

5. Whose favourite drink is made with Gin, Benidictine, A slice of lemon and two ice cubes?

6. What are the colours of the Russian Flag?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

I'm dreaming of a green christmas

2007-12-13T12:52:00.000Z

With every estate in the country emanating a neon glow that can be seen for miles around, it's not a very green time of year. External lights go on when it starts to go dark (about 4 o'clock) and generally don't go off again until sometime between eleven and midnight.

I haven't seen any statistics on this, but I suspect the power companies are rubbing their collective hands together in anticipation of fat profits at this time of year.

So, as an alternative, how about some solar powered xmas lights from Nigel's Eco Store (affiliate link).

I haven't tried these myself as I don't put any lights up outside my house, but I have got another solar device from there that is excellent.

Puppy vs Remote Control

2007-12-12T12:40:00.000Z

There was only ever going to be one winner. The remote didn't put up much of a fight but did manage to keep all of its buttons.

Annoying TV Scheduling

2007-12-11T11:50:00.000Z

I've been watching the present series of BBC's Spooks on BBC3 for the last couple of months, they air 1 week ahead of BBC1 but an hour later on a Tuesday evening.

The last episode is not being shown on BBC3 though, and now I have to wait another week before I can see the season finale. The same thing was done with Heroes, although that was not such a pain as the final two episodes were shown on the same evening on BBC1.

I can't see the point of not showing the whole series on BBC3, is it just a sneaky way of boosting the viewing figures for the final episode?

Bah Humbug! Yeah, whatever...

2007-12-10T08:14:00.000Z

Christmas costs far too much every year. We buy presents for our family that they don't really want, and receive the same; consigning them to the bottom drawer to be brought out next time we are in need of a raffle prize.

This year we told our immediate family not to buy present for us - fair enough, they can still give presents to our son, we wouldn't want to do the poor child out of christmas and neither would they.

Everyone seemed to take it quite well and nobody was at all put out by this, which had concerned me as I didn't want to seem miserly, or ungrateful, but there's just nothing we (as adults) really want as a present.

I thought it was just us, having spoiled ourselves being in Africa last christmas, but it seems that The Motley Fool are just as keen as we are not to spend so much at christmas.

I've even taken on board some of their other ideas as well.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (6)

2007-12-07T13:10:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. In which pantomime does Baron Hardup appear?

2. What is the second most popular name for baby boys in the UK?

3. Which of the Village People did not have a moustache or a beard?

4. Anagram: Unravel A RABBLE WHY IM REAL STONED to get the name of a singer and his band.

5. What nationality was Clarence Birdseye, famous for his fish fingers?

6. Who led the mutiny on the Bounty?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Sports Personality of the Year

2007-12-05T20:13:00.000Z

I so hope that Lewis Hamilton doesn't get this award.

What does it say about the British psyche that we would pick someone that managed to drag defeat from the jaws of victory in the F1 world championship. Probably that we like the plucky underdog, the young pretender.

For goodness' sake, can't we pick a winner for sports personality of the year?

To be fair there are plenty of other poor candidates this year; two of the England team that lost the rugby world cup, an athlete who was banned for missing drug tests and a tennis player who hasn't won a great deal yet.

I'd love to see it go to James Toseland or Paula Radcliffe, but I can't see it happening.

Monty Python and the Sudanese Teddy Bear

2007-12-04T08:18:00.000Z

It's hard to believe that in the 21st century there have been mobs of people on the streets of Sudan baying for the blood of a teacher, because she allowed a group of 6 year olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

It really is reminiscent of the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian - "All I said was 'That piece of fish was good enough for Jehovah".

Words fail me.

Okay, it's December now

2007-12-04T07:56:00.000Z

I give in, you can mention the C word near me and I won't bite your head off.

The trouble is that I am already sick of christmas and it is still more than three weeks away. It's the same every year; we get christmas rammed down our throats from some time in the middle of October.

The nation's favourite consumer festival makes the shops a complete nightmare for 3 whole months. If the shops aren't jammed full of christmas goodies, they're stocked up with all the crap that gets wheeled out for the sales.

Last year we got away from it all for the first time and went to South Africa in early December, returning on New Year's eve. The whole christmas thing is a lot more low key over there, I don't think we saw more than a dozen christmas trees the whole time. Our Christmas Day was spent camping by Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and our present was a helicopter ride over the falls.

Check out the pictures here. Best Christmas Ever!!

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (5)

2007-11-30T08:48:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. Name the detective famous for his dirty raincoat.

2. What is the dirty water that collects in the bottom of a boat called?

3. Name the 1952 UK chart hit, which was the first song to reach number one whose title was a question.

4. Name the band whose reunion concert tickets are listed on ebay for £10,000.

5. What is the name of the new Australian Prime Minister?

6. What are the colours on the Belgian flag?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Hmmmmm?

2007-11-28T08:38:00.000Z

Whilst in discussions about scalability testing with a consultant yesterday we were briefly amused when trying to work out...

What's the opposite of a false negative?

It all depends on the context and you could go round in circles trying to work out the logic. Is it a "true negative", a "false positive". I don't know, anyway enough of this silliness - that's what working away from home for a few days does for you.

Just goes to show that two wrongs don't make a right and in future I shall steer away from phrases like false negative and try and think of something more meaningful to use.

SPLASH!!

2007-11-26T12:17:00.000Z

The other night, on the way back from taking Jack to his swimming lesson, I drove through a big puddle at the side of the road, causing a huge splash.

I know, little things and all that, but when I turned to look at Jack he had a big grin on his face despite the fact he is 12 now. Driving through puddles has always mad him smile, from he was about 2 years old and it will be a sad day when it doesn’t amuse him any more.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (4)

2007-11-23T08:29:00.001Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. What colour is the e in the ebay logo?

2. What food’s literal translation is “white eat”.

3. True or False? All giraffes are mute.

4. Anagram: Rearrange CHICK IM OLD MARE to get a TV gardener.

5. What was the two word catchphrase of Dad’s Army’s Corporal Jones?

6. What 6 letter word beginning with R has no vowels?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Dog Shit

2007-11-22T08:55:00.000Z

Being a dog owner, I now have the unenviable task of picking up shit after my dog. Whether it is in my own garden, or out on the street, I do it because I wouldn’t like to step in it myself.

Generally people are getting better at picking up after their dogs, although there are always going to be one or two that spoil the party.

There is, however, an entirely worse group of people who pick up after their dog and then proceed to throw the bagged up shit under a hedge, or hang it on the nearest available branch.

That’s actually worse than leaving the shit on the path in the first place, since now it won’t even rot down or get washed away by the rain.

Dickheads!

Advice for Life #1

2007-11-21T10:21:00.000Z

It's another of those #1 of an occasional series type posts.

Today's gem is:

Try not to fart when wearing a Gore-Tex jacket.

The fart is trapped inside the jacket and works its way up to the neck where it then assualts your nostrils with all its power, having been kept warm by your body heat.

Nasty!

If you have to fart, I suggest lifting the back of the jacket to let it escape, rather than become trapped.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (3)

2007-11-16T08:37:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. In which country is William Tell a hero?

2. Name the host of University Challenge.

3. What denomination of note is known in America as a “sawbuck”?

4. Anagram: Rearrange NEW RAT ORGY to get a radio personality (easy).

5. Name the Australian who won the F1 world championship in 59, 60 and 66?

6. What is the highest score possible for a 3 dart finish?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Sculpture Exhibition at Chatsworth House

2007-11-14T14:14:00.000Z

For the last couple of years Sotheby’s have put on an exhibition of sculpture in the gardens of Chatsworth House.

It’s actually well worth seeing, although one or two of the pieces gave me that “but, is it art?” feeling; Overall, though, I enjoyed it and it was made all the better by a pleasant afternoon stroll in the gardens.

Here’s a few pictures of some of the ones that caught my eye…

Kate Moss apparently, I just thought the Yoga pose was interesting.
A tree made out of loads of little people shapes.

This is called "Thumbprint"

Dog Trials

2007-11-12T11:22:00.001Z

The other day we decided to see if we could let the dog off the lead and allow her to have a bit of a run around in the woods. She has to learn to come back when called eventually, and the cows (which really would have distracted here) have been moved to another field.

Anyway, cut a long story short, big mistake.

It took us 40 minutes of calling, searching and trying to catch her before we finally got her back on the lead. We only managed to get hold of her when some joggers came through and she was too curious to resist someone new to get fussed by.

Not only that, but she’d also managed to get a nick on the end of her ear and was covered in blood. Every time she shook her head blood got spattered everywhere.

We took her home for a bath and then it took half the evening trying to keep the end of the ear clamped in a dressing to get the bleeding to stop; a couple of time she shook her head and the bleeding started all over again.

I think it might be a while before she gets off the lead again.

Gazebo Update

2007-11-09T15:50:00.001Z

Well, the smoker's gazebo is no more.

All that remains is a tangled heap of metal and canvas in the car park, after the wind the other night took hold of it and bent it all out of shape.

Poor smokers.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (2)

2007-11-09T09:44:00.000Z

Here we go again, Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow and here is my weekly selection from the questions.

No cheating by using the internet.

1. What is the collective name for a group of Lions?
2. Name two of the three countries that border Vietnam.
3. If James is 5, Henry is 3 and Edward is 2, who is 1?
4. Anagram: Rearrange FLUENT SHOOTA to get footballing great (hard).
5. Who turned a blind eye at the battle of Copenhagen?
6. Beltham First, Alderman and Onward are all varieties of what?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Buy Shares in Gazebo Manufacturers

2007-11-07T15:07:00.001Z

If my local pub is anything to go by there will be thousands of places up and down the country with gazebos in the beer garden, hastily erected by the landlord to protect the smokers from the worst of the British weather.

The gazebo in the beer garden of the Barley Mow is already looking more than a little worse for wear due to the ravages of the wind.

Slightly bent, held down by concrete blocks and picnic tables, with the odd small tear in the canvas roof, it looks more than a little forlorn. The worst of the weather is still to come - we've not really had much wind yet, but that will all change.

So, as winter progresses many of these little sanctuaries for smokers will be blown away or damaged beyond repair, leaving the landlord to go looking for a newer, stronger, better gazebo.

Sales of gazebos have never looked so good.

Luxor Blog Part III

2007-11-05T15:01:00.000Z

We took our last few days in Luxor at a slightly more leisurely pace, visiting a few of the bazaars to haggle with the locals and visiting the temple at Karnak.

It seems a bit mean to be haggling over 10p, but to be fair we were still paying vastly inflated prices for the few bits and pieces we bought. After spending a hundred egyptian (about £9 sterling) at one shop we asked the owner what he would do now, and he replied that he would shut up shop and go home for the day.

The scale of temple at Karnak completely blew me away. The picture below might give you some idea - there were 134 of these pillars in this section of the temple, behind the 45m high front wall.

Friday Morning Pub Quiz (1)

2007-11-02T09:28:00.000Z

Thursday night is quiz night at my local hostelry, The Barley Mow. Every week the quiz master starts us off saying “30 questions, and they’re all dead easy!”.
I though it would make a nice weekly interlude to my blog to post up half a dozen of the questions from the quiz – no cheating by using the internet though.

1. Where is the world’s only totally car-free city centre?
2. Name two of the three tools that Bob the Builder has in his tool belt.
3. In literature, who was the owner of the Spy Glass Inn?
4. Anagram: Rearrange A WOMANS TIT to get the name of an actress.
5. Whose arctic hideout is known as The Fortress of Solitude?
6. In the TV series Open All Hours, what was Arkwright’s first name?

Answers in the comments in a couple of days.

Luxor Blog Part II

2007-11-01T13:33:00.000Z

I woke up with a big shock at 4:30am when Karen prodded me because she had heard the loudspeakers calling folks to the mosques. I realised with a slightly sick feeling that I had set the alarm wrong on my phone; it was still on UK time, not an hour ahead for Egypt – Gah!

Moments later the room telephone rang to tell us we had better get down to reception to get our coach to go on a balloon trip.

Well, we made it in time; less than 6 minutes to get up, dressed and down to the coach to make our way across to the west bank and the balloon launch site.

We got our balloon trip sorted out by a local “fixer”, with the same company that was taking people from the hotels who had booked through travel reps. Consequently it conly cost us about £40 each for the three of us, whereas the rep was touting this at 120 Euros each!!

The balloon flight itself was amazing, looking over the temples and tombs from high above and watching the sun rise over the Nile is an experience I doubt I shall ever forget.

Luxor Blog Part I

2007-10-30T15:01:00.001Z

On our first full day in Luxor we got up early and took a stroll from the hotel (The Pyramisa Isis) along the main road, finishing up at Luxor Temple, which is much smaller than Karnak but still quite impressive.

We met lots of people on our walk, all of whom wanted to help us find our way around, whether by taxi or horse & carriage, but we managed to get all the way to Luxor Temple in foot. On the way back we took a horse & carriage and managed to persuade the driver that we didn’t want to visit any of the local markets and just take us back to the hotel.

A reasonably early start the next day and our “fixer” Ashraf met us in a river boat at the hotel to take us to the West Bank to see the Valley of the Kings, The Temple of Hatshepsut and the Collosi of Memnon.

Three tombs is actually plenty enough to see in the Valley of the Kings and I would recommend making the effort to see one of the far outlying tombs where the air is actually cool and not stifling hot from all the warm bodies traipsing up and down. We didn’t bother going to see TutanKhamun’s tomb as despite all the hype he was only a minor king and they charge more to get in that tomb than getting into the whole valley.

Like all tombs and temples in Egypt be wary of following a beckoning Egyptian round a corner; although there is probably something reasonably good to see (or a dodgy blessing involving touching a hieroglyph and putting one’s hand on one’s heart three times) some baksheesh will no doubt be the inevitable motivation.

Air Travel Amusement

2007-10-26T09:10:00.000Z

Air Travel is such a great opportunity for people watching.

One of the things that never fails to amuse me is how people are so keen to be first on or off the plane.

Sitting in Luxor airport, waiting to get the flight back to the UK I watched when two airline staff arrived at the departure gate, and almost immediately a queue began to form by the desk, with people jockeying for position in the queue. They stood there for nearly 15 minutes before the staff started ushering all the folks in wheelchairs and on crutches straight through in front of them.

Of course, once a few people had gone through the gate the queue got even bigger, whilst I sat comfortably waiting, safe in the knowledge that the plane would not go anywhere until I got on even if I were the last person to be seated.

The same inevitably happens when the plane has landed, dozens of people jump straight out of their seat as soon as the seatbelt signs have gone off (or even before that in some cases) and stand like sardines in the aisle for 5 or 10 minutes before anyone is able to move.

I sit, patiently waiting, until the crowds have cleared and wander through, first to passport control where the impatient crowd have had to queue; by the time I get there, the queue has almost cleared.

I catch them all up by the luggage carousels where they all crowd as close as possible to the end of the conveyor to get their cases the moment they appear, whilst I stand at the far end, not shoulder to shoulder jostling for position and get my luggage in due course.

Some of the them do manage to get all their cases and go through customs a whole couple of minutes before I do, the rest inevitably gain nothing for all their queueing and rushing and have completed their journey no faster than I have. They'll never learn though, and so will always provide me with an amusing distraction from the tedium of air travel.

Holiday

2007-10-25T09:15:00.000Z

I've been on holiday for a week, so haven't updated my blog - not because I've not been able to access the internet, but simply because I was too busy (or not as the case may be) either doing stuff, or simply lazing by the pool.
I will put a series of posts up about our Egyptian experience over the next couple of weeks, as I gather my thoughts and upload the pics.

A Little Bit Greener

2007-10-16T07:34:00.000Z

Up until now I’ve only made a few half hearted attempts at being green, so I thought it might make an occasionally interesting blog to see what further attempts I can make.

I have managed so far to replace some of the light bulbs in our house with energy saving bulbs, and will continue to do so over the next year or so. I’ve spotted one or two offers of cheap energy saving bulbs, one of which is here at Powergen.

Here are the bulbs in the house at the moment…

Total Bulbs in the house: 78

Of which:
15 Energy saving bulbs
24 Low voltage bulbs

So – about half of all the bulbs in the house so far.

I’m also planning to switch to powergen’s green energy package, so whilst it is all very small at the moment, we’ll just have to see how it goes.

What a weekend of Rugby that was!

2007-10-15T09:12:00.000Z

Two fantastic games this weekend.

England continued improving on their form and beat a determined French side to reach the final of the world cup for the second consectutive time. France never looked like scoring a try the whole game and in the end sustained pressure and penalties is what tipped the balance.

The Boks saw off Argentina with a somewhat flattering scoreline, although for a good portion of the game they seemed nervous and certainly threatened by the Argentine forwards. It was, however, a game too far for the Pumas - whilst never lacking spirit, they did look tired and lacking the belief that has powered them through some of their earlier games.

Next weeks final should be a brilliant game. South Africa are undoubtedly the favourites, but England have just got better as the tournament progressed, and will want revenge for the 36-0 thrashing they received from the Boks in their first game of the World Cup.

For me it is too close to call, we'll just have to wait and see who lifts the Web Ellis Trophy next Saturday.

FFS, What do you expect?

2007-10-12T08:40:00.000Z

A mate of mine has just come back from Marrakech, which she eloquently described as “a chaotic shit hole”.

For fuck’s sake, what do you expect? Morocco, despite having a thriving tourist industry, is still a third world country. For my money, part of the charm of visiting places like this is to see how real people live in these countries.

Forget the sanitised tourist haunts and the opulent hotels; you can give me a loud and smelly souk any day of the week. I know you get hassled sometimes, but that’s part of real life in morocco. If you want sanitised shit then go to Florida for your holiday – not somewhere you will ever catch me going, but that’s a blog subject for another day.

The smoking ban helping to kill our planet

2007-10-11T07:38:00.000Z

When the smoking ban was introduced during the summer all of the smokers happily trailed outside into the beer garden to spark up and everyone in the pub was generally happier.

Unfortunately now that winter is setting in the smokers are starting to get cold and grumpy. So, what does the landlord do? He sticks a patio heater next to the gazebo that’s been erected to keep the smokers dry, so that they can be nice and cosy as well.

Don’t get me wrong here; I’ve no bone to pick with smokers. What they do with their own money and health is entirely their own concern.

What I do object to is the patio heaters. Pumping heat and CO2 straight out into the cold air is a disgusting waste, check out this article by the Energy Saving Trust.

From a great height

2007-10-09T10:08:00.001Z

Number one in an occasional series of places with great names that you may or may not wish to live.

This is a small village in the peak district, not far from Hathersage and Bamford.

A Pleasant Rugby Surprise

2007-10-08T07:15:00.000Z

Despite my doom an gloom about the Rugby World Cup being an all southern hemisphere affair, it seems that things are now looking up.

England beat the Aussies again, well Jonny did anyway. Although, to be fair, the England Pack fair dominated and made the Australian forward look like schoolboys. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a display by what should have been two closely matched sides with England essentially as the underdogs.

France did what they do best, being totally unpredictable. I'm not sure what the All Blacks were playing at though; I mean, what were they thinking when they left Doug Howlett out of the side? He has been their best player and their highest scorer of the whole tournament.

Perhaps there was a touch of under-estimation there, especially after the poor performance of France in the opening game.

South Africa must have been worried at 20-20 against Fiji as well, in fact the only match that really went exactly as I thought it would was the Argentinians beating Scotland.

So, Argentina vs France in the final anyone, for a repeat of the opening game. Given the number of upsets in the tournament so far you just never know what might happen.

Bohemian Rhapsody

2007-10-04T14:33:00.000Z

I've just come across Mnozil Brass and their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody on youtube and have to say that I'm pretty damned impressed - it's a cracking performance and all the better for being live.

Just as a comparison I've posted up a (slightly crappy quality) video that I took a Sheffield Arena last year of the Sing Live UK rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody by a 1200 voice choir. Got to say that even though the sound quality isn't that great it still sends shiver down my spine at one or two points.

Anyway, I enjoyed both of these, see what you think.

Football problems

2007-10-03T13:14:00.000Z

I was scratching my head about what I was going to blog about today (always a bad sign) but then I happened across this news article.

The Football Association and its referees need to find some balls and take control of the game. Take a leaf out of Rugby Union's book, you don't see the sort of dissent that is commonplace in football on any rugby pitch, whether it is professional, amateur or junior. Rugby referees have the respect of the players and the power to ensure that respect is kept at all times.

Some of the suggestions in the article seem almost laughable, like putting parents into a roped off area to stop them abusing referees, but I've seen these parents and they deserve to be put in a cage, never mind a roped off area. If children's parents behave like that, how are they supposed to learn to respect the ref on the pitch.

So, come on FA, give football referees full control of the game, let them hand out yellow cards for dissent and make that yellow card actually mean something with a 5 or 10 minute trip to the sin bin, even if that dissent is being directed from the sideline by parents.

Rugby World Cup

2007-10-02T16:12:00.000Z

I finally got round to watching some of the weekend's action last night (hurrah for sky+, although more on that subject in a blog entry for later this month) and was treated, imho of course, to two of the best games of the tournament so far.

Wales v Fiji was a delight to watch. Not that I wanted Wales to get knocked out, or anything like that, but Fiji simply outplayed the Welsh side. Fijian player made gains every time they hit the game line, pushing the Welsh players back in the tackle and offloading the ball in a brilliant display of loose play.

Ireland v Argentina was a bruising encounter in which the Irish pack was dominated by the Argentinians and Ireland's kicking game gave them hope one minute and made them despair the next.

What was quite funny was to listen to how the commentary changed as the match went on and the realisation dawned that the home nation side was going to lose.

Ah well, only England and Scotland left in the tournament now, and both of them could be out in the next round if performances by Australia and Argentina are anything to go by. France will probably join them after they meet the All blacks, leaving the semi-finals a totally southern hemisphere affair.

It's been a bad world cup for northern hemisphere rugby.

A Cracking Weekend

2007-10-01T14:39:00.000Z

This isn’t a subject I’ve blogged about before, yet I’m involved in scouting almost every week of the year, whether it be weekly troop meetings, planning the next trip or taking the scouts out to camp.

So anyway, this weekend we (by we, I mean the team of leaders, 9 of us in all) took the cubs and the scouts (50 kids in total) to Linnet Clough near Marple.

It’s a cracking site and we had a fantastic weekend, with loads of activities including.

Climbing
Air Rifle shooting
Bottle Rockets
Archery

Not enough kids get a chance to do these sort of activities and push themselves beyond the ordinary, but unfortunately there just aren’t enough adult volunteers to allow those kids to have a chance.

Barbershop philosophy

2007-09-27T15:12:00.001Z

Now you can get philosophy whilst having your hair cut, much in the same way as you can in the back of a taxi cab.

Just like a cabbie my barber is happy to regale me with his take on life the universe and whatever takes his fancy on any particular afternoon. Today's little pearl of wisdom was concerned with recent news events where two armed robbers had been shot and killed by police. He reckons that they should have thought of that possibility before they set off to commit the robbery.

Never mind, "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime" as far as he is concerned if you carry a gun then you should be prepared to be shot dead by the police.

Life is so simple for some people isn't it.

*sigh*

I just don't like football, okay?

2007-09-26T12:39:00.000Z

I can’t stand blokes whose opening gambit in any conversation is “Who do you support?” – My stock answer of “No-one” usually garners either incredulity or derision; “Oh, really?” or “What, you don’t like football?”

Look, just because I don’t like football doesn’t make me some sort of freak or weirdo. The simple fact of the matter is that I don’t see anything interesting in the game and I find the whole tribal football thing a bit repulsive.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say that I don’t like sport, or watching sport on TV occasionally, but it’s not the be all and end all of my existence.

I don't have to be part of a crowd with all the rest of the sheep.

Flat pack furniture is a doddle

2007-09-24T13:45:00.000Z

I don't know what all the fuss is about when people complain about flat pack furniture being hard to put together and having bits missing etc etc...

I toddled off to IKEA on friday night, after printing off a handy sheet from their online store, got the girl on the helpdesk to write down where everything was on my list and loaded up three trolleys full of flat packs.

It's a good job we have a big car, but even so some of it still had to go on the roof; and the drive home was somewhat slower than the drive there.

Anyway, saturday morning I started out building wardrobes, and by late afternoon I had finished building a huge wardrobe complete with sliding doors - without a single problem. Really, the instructions are so simple a five year old could follow them - I've seen instructions for lego that were more complicated.

My brother, however, is of completely the opposite school of thought; when I talked to him last night he assured me that there are actually people that will go to IKEA for you, buy the stuff, deliver it and then assemble it all for you. Incredulous I had to check it out, and google has no trouble turning up Just Flat Pack who do the whole lot for you (at a price of course).

More blokes should do yoga

2007-09-20T12:52:00.000Z

I've just got back from a lunchtime yoga class and feel amazingly relaxed and ready for the afternoon's work. The class is a total mixture of ages and abilities, from the old bids to the rather fit young women; the novices to the fairly advanced practicioners.

I am the only bloke that regularly attends the yoga class, and have been going for five or six years now, so consider myself fairly advanced. Sometimes, though, I still marvel at the things the teacher is able to do with her body, that I would never be able to manage. Actually, there are one or two things that I am convinced are impossible given a male physique and any amount of muscle.

This is the only class I go to at the gym, the rest of my time is spent on aerobic / weights programs and I find that yoga is brilliant for making me do the stretching and relaxation that I often neglect.

Any bloke that thinks yoga is easy, and "just a bunch of ladies going Om", should really give it a try as they might get a real shock and find out how exactly how good yoga is for strength, balance and suppleness.

So come on lads, open your mind and have a go at yoga.

What are the chances of that

2007-09-19T13:45:00.001Z

I'm not a believer in luck, or anything superstitious for that matter, but I spotted this when I was out walking the dog this lunchtime and I thought - well bugger me, what are the chances of that.

The pic is not that great, but it is actually a five leaf clover.

So, despite my better judgement and my total cynicism when it comes to "luck", I think I probably ought to have a punt on the lottery tonight.

I'll nip out and buy a ticket later, and will blog the results tommorrow morning. Now, a lottery winner's blog, that would be a blog worth reading wouldn't it? Shame this is just the random crap that I come up with from time to time.

Update: As expected this had no effect whatsoever on my chances in the lottery last night, where my lucky dip netted me precisely bugger all.

It's that time of year again

2007-09-19T10:34:00.000Z

On sunday afternoon I indulged in a bit of extreme fruit picking.

I emerged, scratched, pricked, nettle-stung and with fingers coloured a deep purple with a good couple of pounds of sloes.

Now sloes mean only one thing - Sloe Gin.

So, a trip to the supermarket to buy a large bottle of gin and some sugar and all the ingredients are ready to make sloe gin for this christmas.

All that's left to do now is prick the skins of the sloes, put them in a demi-john with equal amounts of sugar and pour on the vodka. It'll need agitating a few times for the next couple of weeks until all of the sugar dissolves and then it just needs leaving in the cupboard until christmas.

So, come christmas it's a simple matter to strain the Sloe Gin and drink!

Rugby and Going Ape

2007-09-17T10:49:00.001Z

What happened this weekend?

Well, South Africa kicked England's arse at the Rugby World Cup for one.

I watched the game on friday night and it was painful to watch. Jason Robinson looked good a couple of times, and then was carried off the pitch looking like his world cup was all over. George Shuter looked the most dynamic of the forwards after he came on, he seemed to be one of the few that was making any progress across the game line. There were so few glimmers of light from England's point of view and now I've severe doubts about the Samoa game, we could get beaten there.

So, on a brighter note, yesterday I went ape.

My son was invited to a birthday outing with one of his mates to Go Ape at sherwood pines and I was invited as a "responsible adult" to spend three hours up in the trees. It was a lot harder work than I thought it was going to be, although I think there was a fair bit of over-compensating going on, trying to use upper body strength to give me confidence in my balance.

All in all it was a good laugh, and I'd recommend it.

Why does my dog eat shit?

2007-09-14T06:09:00.002Z

That's Mindy (Min) our 10 month old cross-breed terrier, and she eats shit.

I don't know why she eats shit, it's not like we don't feed her or anything like that. Take this morning for instance, she ate some cow shit and then a bit further round our walk she ate some horse shit.

It doesn't just stop there, she's quite partial to a bit of sheep shit and has even been known to lick up bird shit.

One time, when we went to visit the outlaws, she dived straight into the cat's litter tray and ate some cat shit.

So, what is it about shit that my dog loves so much? Can anyone tell me?

UPDATE:

I found some more information on this one. See check out my blog post here.

Breakfast is served.

2007-09-13T09:05:00.001Z

This is my first attempt at mobile blogging, more will follow once I figure out how this feature works on my SE W810i.

Of more interest will be how much this natty little feature on my SE W810i actually costs me when using vodafone. If I was able to post the message via MMS it would cost me nowt as it would come as part of my monthly message allowance.

If it does cost, then I'll have to weigh it up to see if it is worth it. It may be that next time I get a new phone (6 months or so) I will have to get something other than a SE.

We'll see.

What was I saying before?

2007-09-12T09:28:00.000Z

Erm, when I said the meta-blogging was over I was lying.

Whilst resurrecting my blogger account I was prompted by google to set up an AdSense account, where by they add context sensitive ads to my account and credit me with click-throughs. Well, I thought, nothing ventured nothing gained and signed up to AdSense.

Now, if I ever make any money out of this then this blog will be the first place to hear about it.

I have my doubts that anyone will ever read this, never mind read it and then click on an advert; but I've decided to suspend disbelief for the time being anyway and just wait and see what happens.

Mind you, I supposes there's always a chance that my AdSense registration will get turned down when they realise how crap this blog is so far.

Anyway, watch this space.

How shit am I?

2007-09-12T09:11:00.000Z

I never really got the hang of this blogging lark, did I?

Anyway, don't really know what prompted me to pick this up again after so long, but I thought I would give it one more go. If it turns out to be crap I can just delete the whole lot - no loss really.

The whole thing seems to have come on a long way since last time I logged in, back then it was a right job to post a blog entry with a picture on it, but now it's piss easy.

Okay, blogging about blogging (meta-blogging that would be) over now.

Words that make me laugh #1

2004-05-26T12:30:00.000Z

There are some words that make me laugh, for no apparent reason, whenever I come across them.

One such word, and one of my favourites I must say, is the word flange

Mourning the loss of Mark and Lard

2004-05-25T15:06:00.000Z

It's been a couple of months now and I've really, really tried to give Colin and Edith a chance, but I can't do it any more. As of tommorrow the radio gets turned off after Jo Wylie.

Random Musings

2004-05-25T13:39:00.000Z

Well, how to start?

My brother got me started on this when he pointed me to his blog at the weekend. There's far too much in the world that makes his blood boil, he ought to learn to chill out a bit.

Anyway, I though this would be a good place to record my random musings, more for my own benefit since I thought it might be interesting to look back on this and think "You don't half spout some shit, don't you?"