'Tell me about your childhood'

'So Darren, lie down on the couch and tell me how everything is going.'

'Well, I am currently taking a nice break from work. I started the break with lots of plans and projects. Now I am two thirds of the way through this break and I still have lots of plans and projects. I have been doing lots of things but they haven't been the plans and projects that I wanted, or was hoping to do. That isn't to say that I haven't been doing important things. What I have done has been very important, just not what I had originally planned.'

'Are you sure about that?'

'Actually, if I take a look at my 'to do' lists for the last few weeks there are a lot of things that have been crossed off and highlighted as done. Also on my 'goals' list there are several things that have again been highlighted as being 'in progress' and therefore have moved forward, some considerably.'

'So why do you feel that you haven't achieved what you wanted to?'

'I don't know. I suppose it feels like I have failed because there are still things to do.'

'But there will always be things to do, lists continue to grow. As long as you are doing your best, and trying to finish the most important things on your list then you haven't failed.'

'Thank you, see you next Wednesday'

What are the chances of that happenin, eh?

Well the sun has come out today and I feel much happier. Other people who are happier in Milton Keynes today are gamblers, with the news that MK is to be one of the places in the UK allowed to have a 'large' casino.

On the news report on Ceefax and the weblink below there isn't much information on what exactly a 'large' casino is. What I have worked out is that there are three levels.

1. Super Casino - opening in Manchester
2. Large casinos - several of which will be around the country, including MK
3. Small casinos - again several around the country

The old adage, size isn't important but what you do with it is, doesn't help me out in my quest for definition, as presumably one will 'gamble'. I suppose there is the element of how much you can gamble. Therefore what it means is that you can lose 'large' amounts at a large casino, small amounts at a small one and in Manchester you can lose a super amount.

There does seem to be a shift in tax income with the current government - and from comments by the other parties, they won't be reversing these trends too soon. They are getting rid of the income from smoking by making it almost impossible to smoke anywhere and taking as much money from 'bad' environmental transport and replacing it with income from taxed gambling.

This is probably a good move as the reduction in smoking and pollution will put less stress on the health service. People who become addicted to gambling tend to either get killed by Jonny 'The Crombie' Mitchel, for non-payment of the loan, or commit suicide. Either way this doesn't require the same amount of resources to care for them.

Super and large casinos

It's all gone very Isaac Asimov

Was just approaching the desk, at home, with all its various gadgets and gizmos I use to communicate with the wider world, and all I saw was a plethora of LEDs. Some were flashing, while others simply stared back at me. The thing is, unlike the future worlds we are presented with in fiction, all these futuristic devices don't work particularly well with each other. I am forever upgrading drivers, adjusting settings and stressing out.

Actually, it seems that an update the other week, possibly windows but possibly my internet software, has scuppered a few settings and I need to find out where to reset them.

The gray decends again

After a brief cold snap - briefer than the career of Jade Goody - the murky gray has returned to Milton Keynes. It is neither cold not warm, neither bright nor gloomy, simply gray and dull. This certainly has an effect on the ability of this blogger (hey I unwittingly called myself a blogger, best change that before I get ideas above my station) guy to be particularly active. He also has to deal with the fact that the MK DONS after going seven games undefeated have stumbled slightly - this weekend saw them lose 5-0, oops.

I have added, and will continue to add more bits and pieces to the site, in addition to the witty blogging. First up, is an MK newsfeed to keep you up to date with what is going on - it is time to mashup Milton Keynes (web tech term, not a cooking term).

"Somewhere over the rainbow"

I am sorry but I hate that song - as in sorry to anyone who does like it, not sorry for hating it.

I like the colour white and various shades of gray. I also like the absence of all colour, black.

I wonder if there is a connection between those two thoughts?

The old ones are the best

There is a wonderful Laurel and Hardy short film in which they clean the chimney of a 'mad' scientist. In this film the scientist has created a formula to reverse aging. Due to several mishaps Hardy ends up in a tank of water into which 'all' the age reversing formula has been accidentally dropped - only a small pipette is needed to work.

The tank foams and froths with Hardy splashing around. Eventually the tumult stops and out climbs a chimpanzee, Hardy has 'age-reversed' quite a long way. The chimpanzee sits on the edge of the tank and in response to Laurel's question, the primate, in Hardy's voice, says 'I have nothing to say.'

Same with today's blog.

There is no point...

...sitting down in front of the computer, logging into blogger and clicking the new post button when you have nothing to say. That is a little like sitting down in front of the TV and watching Celebrity Big Brother... but still I find myself doing both.

Just to let you know

I now have a more 'this is me' type blog going on at dazzer67 . Roundacow will continue with its witty repertoire concerning all things Milton Keynes. However, if you want the personal juicy gossip that is similar to the stuff found in Heat magazine only it concerns me, then you'll have to go to dazzer67.

Well then, how's Janaury going Darren?

Well it all depends on when you ask me. It has so far been a bit of an up and down time. Firstly I am getting a well-earned (I think so) rest from work/vocation/calling* that will see me not returning till 13th February. There is no way that this can be seen as a 'down'. However I had so many plans and hopes for this time and so far they haven't been realised.

Having said that the plans have been realised, what I have done is a big pile of positive things, things that I hadn't planned but which have been buzzing in and out of my consciousness for quite a while. So from that point of view another 'up'.

I certainly feel more organised than I have been and I have also managed to sort a few 'core' issues regarding my meager existence. As for whether this is what I should have been doing or not is something else. I suppose I am paying the price for not spending enough time in the not urgent but important quadrant, because so far January has involved a fair bit of firefighting in the urgent and important category.

Oh, and I also used some concrete yesterday to fill a couple of holes. (I am not the most enthusiastic d.i.yer on the planet.


*delete as you feel

Icing arrives a day late

But better late than never.

A thin layer of icing was applied to Milton Keynes to celebrate its 40th... bless

This was the view from my back window

Happy Birthday to us

Yes, it is time to celebrate, crack open the champagne and ice the cake. Milton Keynes is now 40 years old. Well that's not quite true. Milton Keynes is over a thousand years old as it was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, however, Milton Keynes as a 'new city' is 40.

They say life begins at 40 and for Milton Keynes, about to put on some middle-age spread in the form of 70,000 plus new homes, things are certainly exciting - trust me :-)

For more info about this momentous celebration you can read the BBC's article.

Why didn't I think of this before?

I mean really, it is my email address and all, but I didn't think of using the name as a URL. So now I have something that will probably take precident over all other blogs, well almost. This will be my public blog that all can access, see and comment on.

Milton Keynes life branded 'lonely' and 'confining' by Mr John (BSE) Gummer

Anything popular will be used by politicians to make themselves appear 'in touch', whether it be 'webcameron' or 'celebrity BB Galloway'.

Milton Keynes is the famous whipping boy when it comes to towns/cities in the UK, possibly only surpassed by Slough and Staines. So, Mr John Gummer, the politician who famously got his young daughter to eat a beef burger at the height of the BSE scare is joining in by slagging off life in Milton Keynes. Basically he says that the place is so spacious we don't have any social mix, this coming form a Conservative who during the 80s was a part of a government who did more to destroy local communities than Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris.

Anyhow, I'd just like to say here and now that Milton Keynes is not like Mr Gummer describes, it is much more 'communal' than the London suburbs where I used to live. There is nothing so lonely as being in a crowd - as any Conservative MP should know.

Mr Gummer's post

Racism reported in Milton Keynes

As I sipped my weak tea and dunked my digestive I read the local newspaper - MK Citizen - and was shocked to read an article about badges on sale in Punkyfish that contained the swastika and word nazi, that I would advise you all to read here.

Yet again we have some interesting reporting from the city some love to hate. What interested me in the report was the implication that only mixed race and Polish people in the shop would be offended by the political emblems.

The article isn't very balanced though, for instance they didn't ask the local BNP representative whether he (or she, you see apparently they can be female ballet dancers too) felt 'free speech' was being eroded by our current nanny state.

As for the badges, it did lead me to do a little thinking. I was never upset or adverse to wearing a hammer and sickle badge in my younger days, and yet Stalin did as much for the friendly face of ethnic cleansing as Hitler did... and the cross I wear around my neck was the symbol that represented the wonderful missionary movement of the crusades in the middle ages, where racial stereotypes under girded the decision to send someone to meet their maker sooner rather than later.

Prediction for Milton Keynes 2007

After the merriment and festivities it is time to get back into the swing of life in MK. I wonder what the year will hold for this wonderful place. I gaze into my crystal ball and with confidence can make the following predictions - Russel Grant prepare to be dazzled.

1 Roundacow will become the premier site for information regarding Milton Keynes
2 The MK Citizen will add another section destroying woodland the size of Kessingland each week
3 The MK Dons will be promoted causing Pete Winkleman a problem. He's always smiling and happy, so what will he do when something good actually happens?
4 Despite being a city that was created to grow and relieve the pressure of over-crowding in London, Milton Keynes' citizens will continue to complain about expansion plans
5 Although rail fares increase above inflation you'll still not be able to get a seat on a Silverlink train back from London after seeing the Cardiacs play

you see if I'm right