Cold Tea Again

Time to move on?

2009-01-13T22:53:00.002Z

Just a little note to say that if anyone is reading this you'd do better off heading over to my new home here. I am trying to pull my web presences together and as such poor cold tea has finally been washed up. It is possible I may return here at some point and it is possible that some of here may be there.

So if you do link here it may be worth your time and effort to adjust your linkage.

As for me? I'm off to boil the kettle, listen to some Gary Numan and do my best not to judge my fellow humans.

And along came me

2008-12-08T20:39:00.000Z

Trying out Windows Live Writer again. I did like it before but forgot to download it when I got the new laptop. What I am hoping is that I can post to multiple blogs… that’s my main objective. In the meantime I’m just trying this out.

The annual Car MOT

2008-11-28T10:34:00.003Z

I was most impressed when I received a call on my mobile at the end of October. It was the call centre for the garage that I usually MOT my car with. Now I normally forget all about the MOT, or at least try to, and then end up rushing around trying to book it in on the last possible day. So I was very happy to have this call and book up the car for tomorrow morning. All organised, over a month in advance and on a day that suited me... a Saturday.

This morning, Friday, at about 9:30, I received another call. This one was from the garage where I normally get my car MOT'd. The call was enquiring where my car was, seeing as it was booked in for an MOT today.

I must add that the garage were very understanding, no blame was levelled, and the car is booked in again for tomorrow. In fact half an hour earlier than was planned, so the day may not be carless after all. Now, if only it could pass.

And it missed my head by inches

2008-11-21T11:39:00.001Z

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Astronauts 'drop' space tool bag

Borrow to get out of the credit crisis

2008-10-26T17:15:00.003Z

Okay, I don't claim to have a degree in economics, a vast experience in the financial sector or even a good history of wise financial management (although I do have a bank account that isn't in the red)... but... if the current financial crisis is down to economies, institutions and individuals borrowing more than they can afford to pay back, is the answer to borrow more money?

Boris makes important person resign

2008-10-02T16:39:00.001+01:00

BBC NEWS | UK | Met chief Sir Ian Blair resigns

Apparently it is because he lost the backing of London Mayor Boris Johnson. Sorry, but that's a bit like Sir Alex Ferguson resigning as manager of Manchester United because he had lost the backing of the guy who sells the hot pies outside the Stretford End. Why not just admit that he seems to have got a few things wrong in the recent past.

Cold Tea Again is four years old, no wonder it's cold

2008-09-21T16:38:00.002+01:00

Four years ago today I started typing in some mid-life crisis event and decided to call it a blog. Jumping on blogger's free and easy platform I began this typing quest that has seen several incarnations, domains and names. They are all collected here now, thanks again to beta.blogger's features.

I may eventually get around to sorting out the sidebar and having a little play with the design, but not at the moment. Now is the time to finally sit down and have a nice warm cup of tea, before rolling into year five.

Bad debt rescue plan extended

2008-09-19T10:25:00.001+01:00

After helping the rich executives out of their financial hole, rumour has it that the Bad Debt solution plan may be extended. In a move to keep the capitalist system running the US Treasury has been in discussion to find a solution.

This has already bolstered financial markets around the world, with stocks and shares recovering some of their recent loses. With this news that the financial institutions may get help with dealing with bad debt, effectively sweeping it under the carpet, it has been mooted that it may be extended.

Nations around the world that are crippled with bad debt in such a way that they are unable to feed their own people, are hoping for the extention to reach them. It could be though, that this help will never get that far, as shares in most developing countries don't rate too high in the major trading centres of the world.

How to make friday special with Jonny B

2008-09-12T16:28:00.000+01:00

I've mentioned this blog a few times but there was a lovely turn of phrase in Jonny B's blog today. So wonderful that i thought I'd share it with you. I hope you all have a great weekend.

I retreat a couple of paces. It is very odd and unsettling seeing him with clothes pegs in his hand. It is like inadvertantly witnessing Brian Cant with a whore.

For the rest go here

Tim Ferris' The 4-Hour Work Week - Eco Ego Edition

2008-08-21T13:46:00.001+01:00

The latest edition to The 4-Hour Work Week empire is soon to be released. Following on from the world wide success of Ferris' guide for escaping the 9 to 5 routine and becoming one of the world's NR (New Rich for the uninitiated), a revised version of the book will soon be hitting (albeit extremely gently) shelves everywhere.

Keeping up with current trends to make everything Eco-friendly, The 4-Hour Work Week, has been revised and will soon have its very own Eco version.

The difficulty was to decide what needed revising. How could the essence and practical tips be retained, and what could easily be removed?

But despite the above concern, which was obtained from a publishing minion, it has been done. The book has been revised and later this month The 4-Hour Work Week Eco Ego Edition will be published.

From the original 300+ pages the eco edition has been shrunk to a 16 page pamphlet, yet it still retains all the essential tools to get out of the rut your sad life is currently in. How has this been done, you may ask.

Well, it was quite simple actually. The publisher has simply removed any reference to Tim Ferris talking about himself, his achievements, how he became a world class Tango dancer, a kick-boxing champion and so on and so on, all before the age of 30.

What is left is a great product to help you eliminate the pointless from your life and then liberate yourself from the way the world wants you to live. Enjoy.

The man himself, well if we removed him from the book, he should at least get a picture on the website.

Predictive text

2008-07-28T11:31:00.001+01:00

Okay, I have been using predictive text on my mobile. As I use my mobile for more and more access to the net, I've found this a little quicker than the other way.

Today though, I noticed something a little worrying. When you type a word the predictive text suggests what word it thinks you may want to add next. This is a really good feature and has been quite helpful. However, when replying to a text today, I added the word 'good' to begin the message and I am struggling to find a context in which the word it suggested could be used. I am open to any suggestions, so feel free to use the comment section... oh and the word was 'stabs'!

Plurk downtime raises fear among users

2008-07-18T16:46:00.003+01:00

Well Plurk had it's first major downtime today, following on the heels of Twitter and other rapidly growing services. What was scheduled to be a one hour break has so far (and it is still down at time of typing) almost seven hours. This has left people with nothing to do. From Australia, through Europe to the US, plurkers have been hitting the F5 key in the vain hope that their beloved timeline would reappear, all to no avail.

But what is the big deal, why the concern from users around the globe? Do they fear this latest social networking phenomena will bite the dust? Is it because they have been unable to talk to friends far and wide? Is it because they have had to work and face the realities of everyday life once more? No! The real reason for the concern is the fear that when Plurk finally returns, their Karma will have fallen through the floor...

Dulco Ease and Sex and the City

2008-07-04T10:53:00.000+01:00

We live in an advertising jungle, so it is nice to see sites like the one I'm linking to now. You'll see what i mean when you read on. I've linked to one of my personal favourites :)

Dulco Ease

Pressure stepped up on Mugabe

2008-07-02T08:31:00.000+01:00

At last there will be change in Zimbabwe. The pressure has been mounting over the last few years and now it looks like the big boys are weighing in. Recently we have seen the arms trade to Zimbabwe run into problems and financial sanctions have also been tightened. There are also rumours of Mugabe not being allowed to leave his country. Finally the UK government announced that Mugabe's honourary Knighthood would be removed. But all to no avail.

Mugabe stood as the only condidate in the presidential election, and it looks like he may just win. However, all is not lost, because now it is the time for the world to unite, to take a stand and make a real difference. This isn't the time for anctions, this isn't the time for removing pointless decorations... this is the time for facebook. No Robert, there is nowhere for you to hide now

Facebook group for Tsvangirai

2008 is a good year

2008-05-20T20:53:00.000+01:00

at last, the Cardiacs live

here

It is official, I am uncool

2008-05-19T16:24:00.001+01:00

I am pleased to announce to the world that I do not belong to any of the top 25 pages / fansites on Facebook... 'how cool is that?'

Proud to be independent! And if you think that is sad, then just remember that 'sad' is 'happy for deep people' (Thanks Steven Moffat)

Inside Facebook » The 25 Most Popular Pages on Facebook

PS, if you don't think I'm too sad, you can always add me on facebook

Getting it into perspective

2008-05-06T09:00:00.001+01:00

This blog found it of great comfort to hear that the government of the day was concerned about the effects of a Nuclear strike in the 1950s. It was also great comfort to note what exactly the concerns were.

They could have been worried about riots, the need for fresh water and even coping with radiation sickness. However, and this is where I find the deepest comfort, their concern was for supplying tea to the nation. Only in Britain would this be of utmost concern, and dear government, I salute thee.

BBC NEWS | UK | Nuclear threat sparked tea worry

The Robot Test

2008-04-23T08:51:00.000+01:00

Yeah, okay, I thought I was a geek butI'm obviously not. It as good fun though.

Created by OnePlusYou

Election result shock

2008-04-03T09:52:00.001+01:00

It is emerging, from sources independent of Darren, that he may not have won the election. Information is sketchy at the moment but it appears that Darren has not earned enough votes to continue his role. The BBC, who are not allowed to report from Darren, have confirmed that sources close to him have suggested that he may be stepping down, but these reports are unofficial.

Opposition to Darren, the Other Voices in my Head party or The OVH, have been celebrating the news that they may eventually gain control of Darren. A spokesperson for The OVH said, 'It is time for us to rewrite history... and we'll be starting with Henry VIII.'

St Patrick not as Holy as Jesus

2008-03-14T10:01:00.001Z

I did find the news that St Patrick's Day has been brought forward to the 15th March quite interesting. The basic reason is that this year, because Easter is a movable feast, St Patrick's Day falls during Holy Week. And, it is thought that Jesus, being slightly higher up the Catholic pecking order, should have the focus during Easter and not St Patrick. You can read more in the link below, but it got me thinking. What other things could be moved out of Holy Week to make life easier (well, just moved out because they annoy me)?

Torchwood - I need a reason to not waste 45 minutes each week
Confused[dot]com adverts - why does every character on those adverts get on my nerves (and no I am not linking to their site)
All the programs currently on TV about freaks, be they eaters, large or small people, or John Barrowman (That covers most of the BBC's output)
Those adverts about Tiscali and its best ever deal
Anything that calls itself RnB
Ben Brown nothing against him, he just makes me feel uneasy watching the news
Tim Wilcox nothing against him, I just feel he looks too young to tell me anything newsworthy

Looking at the list so far, perhaps all I need to do is turn off the TV and go and do something less boring instead.

ireland.com - Breaking News - St Patrick's 'day' moved to 15th

War Child Blog book

2008-02-19T22:02:00.000Z

The other day I wrote about a fundraising event organised by the blogging community and involving the blogging community too. Well I'm here reminding you all of it again, after just watching a Horizon program about how to live to 101 on BBC2.

It seems there are a few simple rules that you can follow to add longevity to your life and they are as follows:

Eat varied coloured vegetables (what isn't coloured?)
Eat soya
Eat a low calorific diet (about two thirds recommended amount)
Exercise
Have faith in a greater power (apparently British Gas don't count here)
Don't get stressed
Don't have an overactive immune system (nothing you can do about this though)

Those were the things given in the program, although they are sumarised by me and may be totally wrong. I don't guarantee anything.

One thing I do guarentee are a lot of good feelings if you get involved in some way with the thing that I was talking about at the beginning of the post. If you've forgotten what that was about then follow the link that is on its way and find out all the info here

Worthwhile cause inspires the fingers to type

2008-02-18T23:27:00.000Z

Well of course that isn't true. As soon as it is time to write something specific, for a worthwhile cause (see previous post), the ideas completely dry up. A little lubrication via the drink department of ASDA seems to have little effect on sparking ideas. If I had a South American Tree Frog I may be able to induce some creativity via its hallucinogenic back sweat, but I am, as are ASDA, completely out of the inspirational amphibian. Likewise the only mushrooms in the house are closed cap and penciled in for tomorrow's dinner, I will have to look elsewhere for inspiration.

This is the universal bind of all bloggers, what exactly to write. Blogging is not for the shy, the belief that someone else, in the world is at least half interested in what you have to say, means that you don't mind telling them. It also means that someone else in the world is interested in the trivial things that make up your life, or the fantasy stories that make up your life, either way, interest is assumed... or at least hoped for.

The other option would be to write something of an opinionated nature, a sort of Daily Mail for the MTV generation. This is all well and good, but far too often any irony intended is lost on the comment whores who stalk looking for things they either agree or disagree with. So perhaps in the end, all that I am left with is a snapshot of my life, Darren, some guy who has a blog. Well here goes...

Today I woke up, I lived a little, and soon I will go to sleep. See you tomorrow.

You're Not The Only One

2008-02-14T16:56:00.000Z

I have been known to lurk on Peach's site, and also commiserate (virually) with many a happenstance. And it seems this sort of thing goes on a lot in the blogosphere, hence this neat little project. A book of 'blog' stories making money for the WarChild charity. To find out more follow the link below...

peach: You're Not The Only One

I have a new favourite website

2008-02-14T15:09:00.000Z

and it is here

Thanks to Andrew for the link, and for those who may be easily offended, perhaps it isn't your cup of tea, so don't go there.

Songs / voices in my head

2008-02-07T11:02:00.000Z

One of the most annoying things in life (for me) is hearing a song in the morning and then being unable to get it out of my head for the whole of the day. Today it got worse. The next stage of this really annoying thing is to wake up with a song in your head. So the first thought you have in the day is a blast of Madonna's Into the groove going round and round in your head. This is what happened to me, and is most upsetting.

I was concerned that it would be with me all day, however I was wrong. Within a few minutes of doing last night's washing up (yeah I know, very lazy) I had the title track of Richard O'Brien's follow up to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment running through my head. While this isn't really too much of a problem I later thought that I had only seen Shock Treatment once, and I am now unsure as to whether I had the right song in my head, or whether I had subconsciously written something new.

The other half (and isn't he a socialist?)

2008-01-25T23:16:00.000Z

I got to think (yes, I know, take it easy) about how the other half live. Take Peter Hain for instance. He's got into a spot of bother for some donations that he may, or may not, have had given to him to use for his campaign to become deputy leader of the Labour party. When the water got a little too hot, he was able to tender his resignation, in order to 'clear his name'.

Now, as I thought about things, I realised that he is in a slightly different position to myself. I certainly couldn't resign my job in order to clear the contested parking ticket that I had unwittingly aquired. Or, gone on extended leave because there was a discrepancy with my tax credit form.

Art imitating life?

2008-01-24T15:30:00.000Z

Apparently the loss of power to the engines of the 777 that crash landed at Heathrow airport the other week wasn't the first such incident.

A UK aviation industry source told the Press Association seven engine failures
was "not a large figure" given the aircraft's long flight history.

Anyone else see the similarity with Fight Club?

JACK: Take the number of vehicles in the field, (A), and multiply it by the
probable rate of failure, (B), then multiply the result by the average
out-of-court settlement, (C). A times B times C equals X... If
X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
BUSISNESS WOMAN: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
JACK: Oh, you wouldn't believe

Full story

Steve Jobs keynote speech not here

2008-01-15T22:19:00.000Z

or here

Dear British Gas

2008-01-05T14:03:00.001Z

Just thought I should let you know that ten past eight in the morning is not between nine and one, unless of course, you meant nine pm and one pm. This I am quite sure is not what you meant as you only gave one date, and nine pm to one pm would be over two days. ust thought you'd like to know.

Yours
Tired and tealess

Political comment

2008-01-03T08:32:00.000Z

Now I don't claim to be as incisive as John Humphreys or Jeremy Paxman (or even Jeremy Clarkson) when it comes to political issues but I have watched the TV. On the way to work this morning I caught the radio talking about the US Presidential election and the first rounds of voting taking place today in Iowa. It said that the Republican favourite to take Iowa was Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher. The reporter then made a political comment about Mr Huckabee that I found a little amusing, he said that he was weak on foreign policy. Now am I the only one who thinks that comment is a little ironic considering who the current repulican in charge is?

Emo Claus

2007-12-30T19:03:00.001Z

Emo Santa
Originally uploaded by dazzer67

Well Christmas is over for another year and the world has taken to heart the message of good will to all men (but hasn't extended it to female political leaders - perhaps next year).

I have managed to have a nice time, a good break and am now well into the swing of creating some resolutions for 2008, but before I go there I'd like to say a few things about Christmas.

Once again Santa brought me Dr Who on DVD and I am also now the proud owner of a moleskin diary and notepad (I feel so cool I've had to turn up the central heating). In the sales I managed to pick up a couple of bargains. The top one has to be The Doves CD Some Cities, which I manged to pick up for just £2. I also picked up A Scanner Darkly and The Man With Two Brains for £3 each.

So onto 2008, what am I going to do? Well I'll leave that for another post. If I leave putting up my resolutions till at least five minutes into January 1st I will have already the broken the ones I wasn't going to keep anyway.

Panto season at the optician

2007-12-18T13:02:00.000Z

Well I needed my six monthly contact lens check this morning and so made my way to the local opticians. What I didn't know was that panto season had just started there. The optician, one I hadn't met before, did the check up in a traditional camp panto stylee that would have made Ricky Gervais in Extras proud. The highlight of which was the phrase, 'would you mind opening your legs.' Let me add that this was in order for the eye apparatus to be moved closer to me on the chair.

I apparently have very interesting eyes, in opthalmic terms, but I'm sure I've heard that line used before somewhere.

However, all is in order and I can continue with my monthly contact lenses for the foreseeable future. My next visit will be at the height of the seaside special season so I will expect drunken laughter, too much sun cream and lots of sunglasses.

Intelligence reports

2007-12-04T08:54:00.000Z

Okay, I'm not going to do a cheap gag about US and UK intelligence, but what I am going to mention is the big issue of trust. Before the coalition decided to invade Iraq, the world was told, based on information in Intelligence Reports, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could launch a significant attack in about 45 minutes.

Now we are being told that Iran, isn't making any WMDs, and if it decided to, it couldn't do it until about 2015 at the earliest. (That's the year, not quarter past eight.) And so as I sit here, sipping the rapidly cooling cup of tea, I am not left in a state of peace, assured that the world is a much safer place.

Trust is an important issue and the world seems to be losing it big time.

Intelligence?

Weekends consist of resting

2007-11-18T12:45:00.001Z

Crashed 1
Originally uploaded by dazzer67

Well I wish there was more I could do but between trying to complete NaNoWriMo and other home type things there is very little time. When I do get a moment it is a cup of tea and a quick rest on the bed. And here is the proof, a comfortable position and a nice rest.

We ran out of Coca-cola

2007-11-12T20:36:00.000Z

And so I needed to find a new mixer for the glass of vodka I had just poured. In the end I used the cooled bottle of Fanta Fruit Twist that was in the fridge, and it was very nice too.

Of course the Vodka is for purely medicinal purposes while I am suffering from the worse case of man flu since the last one. Whilst suffering the plague I tend to watch TV, the path of least resistance et al.

So I have reacquainted myself with Scrubs and later on, if I can't sleep I'll be watching F/X Murder By Illusion - I saw that years ago and thought it was good so I'll ruin the memory by watching it again later.

I may also watch the Mighty Boosch again so I can recite the dialogue when I actually watch it on Thursday... oh I wish I felt better.

Champagne on your Golden Grahams - The Boosch are back

2007-11-10T17:52:00.000Z

and 'I'm steamin'

Check out the first episode on the BBC three website. Even, perhaps follow this link and it might just work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/broadband/mediawrapper/consoles/threeplayer/bb_rm_console.shtml?pack1-boosh_s03_ep01_16x9

Spelling test

2007-11-06T22:10:00.001Z

My spelling is not the best, you only need to read this blog to find that out, however I enjoy writing and so perhaps I shall improve over time. In the meantime, while I am writing I often need to check things out with those nearby, hence this conversation:

'Is Charles Dance spelt D-A-N-S-E or D-A-N-C-E?'

There is a laugh, at my expense, before the reply.

'D-A-N-C-E'

'Thanks, is Danse Macabre, spelt D-A-N-C-E or D-A-N-S-E?'

Another laugh before,

'D-A-N-S-E'

'Thanks, is Strictly Come Dancing crap?'

Somethings don't need an answer.

Some issues with the BT Home Hub

2007-11-02T08:49:00.001Z

I thought this may help one or two people and save a bit of time.

To get our Home Hub working wirelessly we had to change the channel it was using from 1 to 11
Sometimes Internet Explorer won't allow you to enter your password for the Home Hub, for some reason IE7 isn't very compatible with it. Use Firefox... as you should be anyway
Make sure you are always able to connect to your Home Hub via the Ethernet port in order to fix things
The BT engineers are very helpful and friendly and patient

If you have any issues, leave a comment and I may be able to help

Just when you thought the internet was safe

2007-11-01T13:33:00.000Z

So our Wi-fi router is playing up - I think the firmware update failed - and now doesn't want to work. So my significant other calls the support team to sort things out. They tell her that the first step is to reset the router, hold down the reset button for about 30 seconds...

Hold on, don't they read my blog?

http://dazzer67.blogspot.com/2007/10/ever-had-one-of-those-doh-times.html

... so guess what I have to do when I get the time, and that is even before I sort out the actual issue.

It is at times like this when the tea tastes particularly cold, and perhaps even a little bitter. So at times like this I turn to a bottle of cola.

I've been a little busy

2007-11-01T08:52:00.001Z

And it has been great. I think I have been hibernating for the past " 'kin years " as the policemen from the Young Ones once said. But now I am enjoying a kind of renaissance.

However, this morning I have a little headache, a headache that I haven't had for quite some time, and so, with my lovely tea I will be adding a vital ingredient... some paracetamol.

Last night I satyed up far too late, which is probably why I have the headache, that was due to needing to finish something at very short notice while keeping the family happy and watching Heroes. Each week it just gets better (only on series one so don't spoil anything please) with revelation after revelation, great.

Saturday at Central Milton Keynes

2007-10-27T22:35:00.000+01:00

And it came to pass that the legend who is Tom Baker appeared at Central Milton Keynes. Although he didn't wear his trademark tie, and I couldn't hear his trademark coarse language, he still manages to impose himself at Collectamania in Central Milton Keynes. I managed to get this almost in focus and almost close-up of the man (ne TimeLord).

There were also a number of Heroes regulars at Milton Keynes too. Including the below Ando. And this gives me the chance to use my wonderful joke. A marketing coup would have got the heroes star with Billy Dee Williams at the local chicken restaurant at the Xscape building...

Ando and Lando at Nando's

I didn't say it was a great joke!

In the changing room

2007-10-26T20:20:00.001+01:00

In the changing room
Originally uploaded by dazzer67

Going shopping for clothes uses more male calories than shopping for food. This can be seen by the attached photo where tiredness overcomes me after only a few minutes shopping for clothes.

Although it has been widely thought that men have fewer calories to use for shopping, it was not known until now that the calories available also varied depending on what was being shopped.

It has long been assumed that men were able to spend hours on end looking at DVDs, audio or computer equipment, but this has been put down to their higher brain function and not to calorific availability. This thoery is now open to widespread abuse.

The Mighty Boosh is back

2007-10-23T14:07:00.000+01:00

Here's the press release:

“The funniest comedy double-act in Britain”(NME) are back!

Transmission details announced for series three of

The Mighty Boosh

“Easily the freshest comedy on TV… The Mighty Boosh looked kaleidoscopically beautiful.” THE TELEGRAPH
“Charming, audacious and genuinely innovative.” THE TIMES
“Horror, music, art and comedy in one terrific psychedelic melting pot.” SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE

Baby Cow Productions and BBC THREE are pleased to announce the transmission date for the eagerly-awaited third series of THE MIGHTY BOOSH, the comedy show written by and starring multi-award winning comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. The series will transmit for six weeks, every Thursday night at 22.30, from Thursday 15 November on BBC THREE.

The third series of THE MIGHTY BOOSH sees Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) and Howard Moon (Julian Barratt) working in Naboo's second hand shop in Dalston. Howard, unsuccessfully trying to sell his esoteric jazz records, mainly moons away the hours in delusions of grandeur while Vince lays around in a hammock playing loud music, trying on wigs and finding Howard ludicrous. Needless to say they don’t get much work done. This doesn’t bother Naboo too much, firstly as the shop is really only a cover for his shady interplanetary Shaman business and secondly, he's usually quite chilled out from sampling his own magical herbs and remedies.

EELS
Naboo and Bollo are off on the Head Shaman’s stag do, leaving Howard and Vince in charge of Nabootique. The duo challenge one another to a sales contest, each trying to sell their latest fads, Elbow Patches and The Indie Celebrity Radar. Things are going pretty well until an unexpected visit from the evil cockney Hitcher. After summoning Elsie Queen of Eels, The Hitcher demands protection money from the boys, but this is money the boys just don’t have…

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF A PUNK
In an attempt to impress his new punk mates, Vince rebelliously bites Howard’s rare jazz record. Unbeknown to Vince however he has bitten off more than he can chew as the corruptive Jazz Beast enters his blood stream. As Vince’s life hangs in the balance, Naboo has no alternative but to shrink Howard and his jazz companion Lester Corncrake down to the size of a pea and send them into Vince’s body to locate and kill the invasive cell. Can they kill the Jazz Beast before it kills Vince?

THE CRIMP
Vince and Howard are distraught to learn they’ve had their style stolen by The Flighty Zeus. As The Flighty Zeus’ popularity rages amongst the kids, The Boosh find themselves increasingly pushed out. The boys hope to regain their popularity with the invention of a new dance craze, Crimping, but with a massive face-off planned at The Velvet Onion, will Crimping be enough to win back their reputation?

THE STRANGE TALE OF THE CRACK FOX
Whilst putting the rubbish out, Vince befriends the Crack Fox, inviting the poor soul into Nabootique for some hot soup. However, the Crack Fox is not as he seems and after knocking Vince out with his potent smell, he vanishes with Naboo’s most precious possession, a bottle of Shaman Juice. Punishment for the loss of the juice is death and whilst Naboo awaits his fate on Shaman Death Row, it’s left to The Boosh to recover the juice and destroy the evil Crack Fox once and for all.

PARTY
It’s Howard’s birthday. Reluctant to celebrate, Howard finally succumbs to Vince’s plan for a huge party. With Bollo on the door, Saboo and Harrison on the decks and Vince’s uber-trendy friends on the dance floor, the party really starts to hot up. That is, until someone is caught in a compromising position with the Head Shaman’s wife in Naboo’s stock room.

Sammy The Crab
Vince is MCing a night at the Velvet Onion, to be headlined by The Black Tubes. Keen to fill the shoes of their recently deceased front man, Vince goes to immense lengths to get into their obligatory drainpipe jeans, but at what price? Meanwhile Howard takes acting lessons from Montgomery Flange in an attempt to overcome his stage fright and secure work with director Jurgen Harbourmaster, but will he miss out to Sammy The Crab?

Gene genie? (rated 3 stars)

2007-10-19T13:55:00.001+01:00

by Michael Crichton

I have usually enjoyed most things that Michael Crichton does, from Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park, but what about Next?

In this novel Crichton takes on the interesting topic of genetics, how genes work, affect us and how they might be used to ‘better’ our existence – or perhaps increase the bank balance of those involved.

Although the book was interesting and worth reading, I have to admit that the plot wasn’t overly gripping. As a novel, although it came to a conclusion, it didn’t flow and I had difficulty following where the story was and where it was heading. The characters were a little cliched and becasue of this we didn’t really delve into them.

So why was it worth reading? Well it made me think. I am interested in learning about new things and the insights into genetics that the book delivered were interesting and thought-provoking. Crichton looks at how companies are buying up bits of the human genome and explores this through some legal banter as the book moves on.

One question it did leave me, was that if companies are buying the patents on genes, and perhaps they buy the patent on genes that cause disease, could individuals who get those diseases sue the owners? Perhaps owning a large part of the genome isn’t the best financial aquisition you could make.

See more about Next

Just think about it

2007-10-15T13:25:00.000+01:00

It sustains us, shouldn't we help sustain it?

England vs France Full-time

2007-10-13T21:43:00.000+01:00

Robin Rolls should never be believed, apart from matters of faith.

England beat France in the Rugby World Cup semi-final

England vs France Half-time

2007-10-13T20:52:00.000+01:00

Well it is half time and the French are leading by one point. Robin Rolls on Facebook believes that France will win, so far he is right, so we'll see.

Ever had one of those d'oh times?

2007-10-12T21:31:00.000+01:00

Now I want to make it clear that I wouldn't change my broadband supplier. I believe the service and features, for the price I pay, is wonderful. So there you have it, I wouldn't move from BTBroadband unless it was a matter of life and death - and I would recommend them to anyone.

However (yes it is coming), there are one or two quirks that I have had to deal with and sometimes they come back to haunt me. For instance when I got the wireless hub it wouldn't connect. Despite all my best efforts in trying to place the wireless adapter close to the hub, inline and even right on top of it, it wouldn't find a strong enough signal to connect. I did however find the solution at an online forum, where they said change the hub setting to channel 11 from automatic or 1. Of course to do this you need to have a connection to the hub - can you see the problem? Wireless connection won't connect to the hub, solution change the settings on the hub, via a connection!

Fortunately I have an adpater card and so was able to pull out the wireless adapter, plug in the network card and then change the settings. It worked fine and I have enjoyed problem free connection ever since... until tonight.

As you can see from previous posts I have got a new Hub phone to use on the broadband connection and to other pcs - so if you have a Skype number feel free to drop it in. The instructions for the phone told me to click a button and then press the button on the back of the hub for 3 seconds. I stopped reading. When I pressed the number nothing appeared to happen... so I kept it pressed. The hub lights flashed.

For some reasons all connections to the internet were gone.

I reread the intructions, 'press the button for 3 seconds... only, any longer and the hub will reset. And you know what that means, channel reset to 1 and not 11. The solution... unplug the wireless adpater, plug in the network card and reset it all.

Perhaps I should read the intructions a bit more.

BT Broadband issue resolved

2007-10-12T09:41:00.000+01:00

Just an update, as I like to be fair, to say that the issue with BT that I had has been resolved. I recieved a message from them yesterday saying that the situation was sorted and that I would not be charged in any way, shape or form. Now all I need is the phone that should have got to me yesterday as well - but there has been a postal strike.

Update... the phone has arrived too. Well done BT

It started with a bang, no a constant, no a string (rated 4 stars)

2007-10-11T09:17:00.001+01:00

The Origin of the Universe (Science Masters Series)

by John D. Barrow

I loved this. I must admit it wasn’t easy going, I haven’t had any great scientific education, and I am not sure how much I actually understood. It will probably need another read through now that I have got through it once.

What it has done though is inspire me to read further about the subject, and that is no bad thing. So I’ll be googling away for the next few days.

The book basically introduces the theories of how the universe began (I won’t give away the ending [or should that be the beginning?] but it does have a twist). Looking at the basic Big Bang theory, constant expansion, inflation, and then moved into the realm of Quantum theories.

See more about The Origin of the Universe (Science Masters Series)

So I have an issue with BT Broadband

2007-10-04T22:21:00.000+01:00

I decide to give BT a call because of an issue I have with a new order. I call at about 6 in the evening, this is the busy time, most people with issues have just got home and like me decide to call at the same time. I dial, I listen to the voice prompts and press my buttons to get into a queue and then I make my first mistake.

I am told that they are busy and that there will be a wait, I can, if I want, press some more buttons and wait for them to call me back, however, I am a little concerned about the issue I have and want to sort it out, so I decline this option and begin to hold.

In total the call lasted an hour and a quarter, in which I was passed through four people before I got to talk to someone who took my details, took down the issue and said he would call back within twenty minutes. He called back within ten, telling me the issue was sorted. I await to see if it will be sorted, but I think he was from a call centre several thousand miles away, unlike some of the people I had spoken to in the previous hour or so.

Mid-crisis Life

2007-10-04T09:14:00.000+01:00

Compared to other people I have an awful lot, I have been blessed many times, am healthy, wealthy (apparently in the top 5-7% of earners across the whole planet) and wise (well I'm educated). However, as is the way of so many Gen Xers it seems my life has lurched from one crisis to another.

I now believe that I am going through some sort of mid-crisis life. I feel more focussed than ever before, I feel more confident than ever before and in general I feel good about things. That isn't to say that everything is peachy, the norm is still crisis, however the life is starting to break through.

Now who was it that said 'life begins at 40'?

Cacti got my tongue

2007-10-02T18:33:00.000+01:00

My fingers are reasonably long, friendly relatives have previously said they are piano playing fingers. However, this has not proved true... I can't play the piano apart from bashing out a few chords, the lead and bass lines of Kraftwerk's Das Model (showing off with my linguistic skills there) and experimental riffs that Ross Geller would be proud of.

My fingers are definitely not green. The garden that I tend (ha - I use hay fever as an excuse) is a mixture of lawn, concrete and weeds. Many a time I have bought a house plant to add that eco feel to the living space and many a time they have died, usually in a long drawn out process that I have been unable to stem. If there was an RSPCP association I am sure they would have convicted me.

Nevertheless I have once again ventured into the house plant arena and bought a cactus. I have a picture below, enjoy it while it lasts.

The year of 2007

2007-09-21T22:38:00.000+01:00

It was a summer that we will remember for not happening, for never arriving. However, one weekend the summer did arrive and we took a trip to the coast. On the journey we listened to the audio version of Sepulchre by James Herbert, which was nice. When this got a little too heavy we put on Radio Two, and we heard the classic Nancy Sinatra track Summer Wine. (I say classic but I had never heard it before)

Now we liked this track and so when we got home we searched for it, found out who it was and then went to youtube :-) And that is where we found this version, which is quite good, and which I would like to share with you.

PS, I don't particularly like the Corrs and U2 are a little hit and miss with me, but together this really works.

Stop talking about who's to blame, when all that counts is how to change

2007-09-21T22:28:00.000+01:00

It is so simple; yet so difficult; yet so profound... life, let's let James explain

One month and still going strong(er)

2007-09-21T16:19:00.001+01:00

One of the goals I had set for this year was to create and do some structured exercise. Well, I researched, thought a little and wrote down a list of weight training exercises and basic non-weight exercises I could do. Decided that I would do them on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, giving a day inbetween to rest the muscles (this seemd to be quite important when reading up on it all).

I started this almost a month ago and have been regularly keeping up since then. I am now in the position where I may need to add one or two more exercises to the list, but I’m not rushing into that as I would like to add some aerobic exercie to the days inbetween. Running is the easiest but I find that terribly boring, skipping could be an option as at least I wouldn’t have to leave the house. If I ever get the shed put up in the back garden I could get myself a bicycle.

However, I am pleased that one of my major goals for the year has been achieved.

See more progress on: Have a structured exercise regime

Radical extemism in Yorkshire (rated 4 stars)

2007-09-18T17:04:00.001+01:00

The Death of Dalziel

by Reginald Hill

This was a good read. I don’t normally like or go for crime novels but this one was given to me and I enjoyed it. Reginald Hill (no relation) keeps the plot moving, the humour flowing and although not with a great whodunnit twist at the end, it did resolve things nicely.

See more about The Death of Dalziel

I have a new favourite spam email

2007-09-14T09:38:00.001+01:00

The latest in a long line of spam emails to hit my inbox has taken top spot in my all-time favourites list. This one is nicely left-field and has had me chuckling since I saw it. It is for Viagra (which despite it being random spam always worries me) but it was the sender that made me chortle. I was being offered Viagra from Stewart Camp.

Well I laughed.

It's not easy you know

2007-09-02T19:18:00.000+01:00

I am off on an international venture in November. It means crossing into the territory of our European partners and looking at scenery such as the following

The thing is, this trip is at the same time as the Cardiacs are touring for the first time in years. I normally see them at the Astoria in London but if I want to do the international trip and the Cardiacs I may have to see them in Stoke or some other place. What a choice, the above or the below... you help me decide ;-)

Mock the iTunes

2007-09-02T15:22:00.000+01:00

Well it was the first week back to work after the summer break. This is one of those times that marks out the year, for me it means summer is over. But just this once I wish summer had actually started.

Being on WinXP at home, I have stuck with Windows Media Player. I quite like version 11 and once used to one media player it can be difficult to change. I do however, use iTunes and have an account at the iStore where every once in a while I'll buy a track I quite like. The problem is that it seems like every time I run iTunes there is a download, so instead of playing the one or several tracks I felt like listening to I have to wait about twenty minutes while I download and upgrade to the latest version. iTunes has now taken over from Adobe Reader as the most updated piece of software I use. Well, perhaps firefox updates more but that update is seamless, quick and often rewarding.

Loved, Mock the Week and in particular Andy Parsons this week. He made the point that people being upset and complaining that they didn't want Camilla to be Queen was ridiculous. It is the whole point of a Monarchy that the people don't choose who will be Queen. If you want to choose then you need a presidency.

From hell's heart, I stab at thee

2007-08-31T11:56:00.000+01:00

Funny posters?

I smiled at first but after a while I couldn't help feel that they were modern fundametalism attempting to be something else and failing. As I looked at them it felt like the comedy equivalent of reading the Daily Mail, hence the Melville quote. But then isn't that how all modern satire works, by taking bits of a picture and creating a meta-narrative? Creating a meta-narrative is all the modernist can do, it is their way, their very being :-)

See what you think - Motivational Posters for the Emerging ~~Church Conversation~~ Chaos

Gary Numan to appear in the Mighty Boosh

2007-08-24T20:37:00.000+01:00

According to a little news item on his website (Numan.co.uk) Gary has recorded a short cameo for the new series of the Mighty Boosh. This is good news because...

I like Gary Numan
I like the Mighty Boosh
It means there is a new series of the Mighty Boosh on TV in November

The most perfect pop song ever... no discussion

2007-08-18T02:02:00.000+01:00

and it only got to number 10 in the charts, proof that everyone shouldn't get the vote.

Nuff said

2007-08-17T23:07:00.000+01:00

Numan and the Boosh

don't be diverted by Jazz funk

I am seriously considering ditching facebook

2007-08-17T22:30:00.000+01:00

In no relation to the link at the bottom of this post I am seriously considering ditching facebook. I am concerned that my profile appears on pages with advertisements from such companies as I would prefer not to be associated with... it works both ways capitalists!

bbc news report

Mock the week

2007-08-11T01:16:00.000+01:00

Why do I laugh? Well I laughed at this so make your own mind up. And yes, I do think Frankie
Boyle is funny :-)

Can I get a re... fund? (just in case you thought I had gone garage)

2007-08-11T00:13:00.000+01:00

Wondering whether I can get a refund on the BBC license. Watched Mock the Week on BBC 2 on Thursday 10th August where Hugh Dennis made several jokes about the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

I then proceeded to listen to the Now show on Radio 4 where several of the same jokes were made.

I feel short changed, although as I laughed at the same jokes on both occasions I suppose they can get away with it.

Giant spider safely removed from bath

2007-08-09T23:06:00.000+01:00

Woke up this morning and there in the bath (I didn't wake up in the bathroom but it was the first room I went to) was a giant house spider - well it was quite big.

I was tempted to leave it in the bath, after all it may have been there simply to have a wash, but to be honest I don't buy Lynx Shower Gel for anyone to use and so I had to act (if only I was as talented as Ross Kemp).

After finding an empty plastic beaker, I trapped the Tegenaria domestica, and sliding some card under the beaker was able to pick it up. I glanced into the beaker, and with an air of superiority that comes with only millennia of evolutionary progress or intelligent design I said, 'ha'.

And the spider stood there (stood seems such a little word for something that has eight legs) and gave me such a dirty look... so I threw it out the house

I have a folking confession

2007-07-28T00:30:00.001+01:00

As a close friend of mine once revealed a love for country music, I must also announce a love for folk music. I can often be found listening to Mike Harding's radio 2 show, but I am a folkin newbie.

I am however, a mash-up fan and know quite a bit about that. So I was overjoyed when i found the latest Mash-up album available via the internet. Go on, I dare you... this is good.

FOOLKLEGS : Folkloric MashUps (selected by Funky Belek & KrazyBen)

My love of folk music can also be seen in the following less than traditional comedy clip

Flickr, Yahoo and BT

2007-07-25T13:41:00.000+01:00

Well I like to give credit where credit is due, if I get good service I pass it on. If anyone remembers my concerns about where I could store my online photos when Yahoo remove their photo storage, then I have some interesting news.

I get my broadband account from BT. Now it is a little more expensive (I think, suppose I should double check) but I do get unlimited usage and a quite close to 8MB service. I have never had any problems with logging on and up time must be virtually 100%. But part of the package gave me unlimited photo storage with Yahoo. Now Yahoo are shutting down their storage and suggesting people use Flickr - now owned by Yahoo so why would they want two photo hosting solutions [yes they do offer slightly different options but that is probably not worth all the extra work]. No problem there but with Flickr I wouldn't get unlimited storage. However, I have just found out that as part of my BT broadband package my Flickr account has been upgraded to a Pro account. It will remain that way until I stop subscribing to BT. And they have a nice little utility that will import all my photos.

So once again I am a happy bunny.

Time for a Mac?

2007-07-24T08:53:00.000+01:00

Well after seemingly fixing the email fault with Outlook it continued to return intermittently.

give up on Outlook - Microsoft are of the devil
install Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla are not of the devil
Test Thunderbird
Thunderbird doesn't work either
recheck settings
Thunderbird has same intermittent fault as Outlook
Apologise to Microsoft, Outlook and all the little Microserfs who created it and do a wonderful job keeping it updated
Uninstall Thunderbird - no point in having two redundant email clients
check facebook
facebook down for maintenance
facebook is of the devil
realise that the only thing that could affect both Outlook and Thunderbird is Norton
(now worry about whether I have used the right word, affect or effect - can't be bothered to check dictionary)
turn off all of Norton and live update (I'm not getting caught out like before)
Uninstall all of the Security software on the PC
Hope that the PC doesn't get attacked whilst doing this delicate operation
test Outlook, it works
Reinstall security software - restart a silly number of times
test Outlook, it works
scan PC to check I haven't been attacked
wait silly amount of time
sleep

If anyone feels called to buy me one of these please feel free to leave a message in the comments

It's wet, grey and miserable

2007-07-20T13:27:00.000+01:00

Yes, another typical day in the United Kingdom. When the buzz word (phrase) was global warming we were all looking forward to Mediterranean summers; who cares if the whole of Africa became a desert and the Sahara spread into Southern Europe. It meant that even a trip to Southend would mean a glorious warm day on the beach, followed by drinking too much for a dehydrated body to take and then trashing the joint - club 18-30 would be coming home.

However, what we have now noticed is that global warming was a slightly misleading phrase. The more accurate term is climate change and it seems like the UK is seeing that this year. So far it seems that all we have had is rain. If this weather is a result of climate change then things don't look quite so nice for us... and we'll have to keep going to Majorca.

There is an altogether more sinister reason that the weather has been so wet. Perhaps we are in the grip of some voodoo magic being channelled through that dreadful song by Rihanna, as long as she keeps blurting out 'Umbrella' we'll have to keep using them.

Dr Who RIP

2007-07-04T10:59:00.001+01:00

Well I was hoping for McGann or Ecclestone to make a surprise appearance, but not this.

BBC - Doctor Who - News - Donna says "I do!"

The big question is whether Russel T Davies is trying to wreck the show totally before he leaves at the end of series 4.

I'm off to cry

People looking like their dogs

2007-07-02T09:40:00.000+01:00

I always thought that the character Captain Jack in Dr Who was a little arrogant. I could quite easily, if I was so inclined, call him a bit of a big head - but the revelation saturday's episode was really taking things a little too far.

I actually quite liked the episode - it was overly sentimental at times and, of course, a little over the top but it did leave me with warm feelings, and that wasn't becasue I spilt my tea. But - I am sure Andrew may have something to say in the comments.

Overall I liked the series, probably better than the last one due to Blink, and Human Nature being exceptional. Not sure if I really like Martha, and although she's gone she is due to be back for some of series four and a short stint in Torchwood too.

So five or so months until Voyage of the Damned brings Christmas cheer to us all, and it is the Titanic and eagle etyed viewers know that the ninth Dr was seen at that very same ship... what are the chances of Ecclestone appearing?

Outlook 2003, Norton Firewall and fun

2007-06-29T09:14:00.000+01:00

Three things that don't go together and should never be used in the same sentence without the words 'Please Lord, why me?' This was my Thursday evening:

Outlook can't connect to your incoming server (error code blah, blah, blah)
Microsoft say this can be caused by an upgrade being applied to Office 2003 (very helpful - no seriously, I had identified the problem. I had added an upgrade)
Solution, uninstall then reinstall Norton Firewall (drastic, but OK)
Attempt to uninstall Firewall stopped as it informed me I was still running Live Update
Stop Live Update
Attempt to uninstall Firewall can't be done because it is now telling me it doesn't exist
Norton Firewall still running
OK, let's uninstall all of the BT/Yahoo software as that is what Norton is part of on my set up
Unistalls everything (I think)
Norton Firewall and Anti-Virus still running
OK, let's reinstall everything from BT
Installs everything apart from Firewall and anti-virus (can't install them as you have to remove them first... aaaargh)
Go an watch Simon Quinlag on YouTube
Go to BT/Yahoo centre on my PC and find that I can now unistall Firewall and Anti-virus from PC, they do now exist
Uninstall them
See if Outlook will now connect
it does, email is again flowing
Reinstall Firewall and Anti-virus
Recheck email
It all works
Go to bed

The right man?

2007-06-27T09:19:00.000+01:00

Alright Mr Blair was able to get Rev Ian Paisley to talk to Sinn Fein but can he really go one better and solve the problems of the Middle East?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6242788.stm

I can't help but think that this is a poorly calculated idea. If there is one guy who is not very popular within certain relgious groups in the Middle East it would be Mr Blair. Come next November when Geaorge W steps down, will he become Tony's assistant? Oh the irony if between them they could bring peace to the region.

Ooops

2007-06-19T09:12:00.000+01:00

I seem to have destroyed the installation of Win XP on our family PC, oh well at least it means it will run faster.

To do list:

reinstall WinXP
reinstall programs
reminisce over the files that I hadn't backed up

"I don't think"

2007-06-18T08:42:00.000+01:00

*Dr Who Spoiler if you haven't seen this weeks episode*

Well we knew it was coming but I must hand it to Mr Davies, the return of the Master was handled quite well. A couple of nice additions to give you some 'aha' moments (no I don't mean going around singing 'take on me') and the best/ worst secret in Dr Who was revealed.

Derek Jacobi was outstanding as he went from bumbling mad professor to sadistic evilness, and although on first impressions John Simm played the character a little whimsically I can see him doing a very sly job in the final two episodes. I even didn't mind Captain Jack being back... he plays a different character when the Doctor is telling him what to do.

Okay there are still millions of questions to be answered... like how and when re the Master but we'll wait till next week beofre complaining too loudly. As episodes go this was nowhere near as good as the previous three weeks but for old fans, it was a welcome journey.

A little review

2007-06-16T14:18:00.000+01:00

Been away for most of this week at a fairly inspirational staff conference. It was a nice time away, giving time to reflect and also get ready for the next glorious five year plan. I also managed to damage my heal doing some Irish Dancing. It was a hard wood floor and I went shoe less as I only had some sandals. Woke up in the morning in excruciating pain and literally had to crawl to the bathroom to get ready. Managed to crawl back and take a couple of tablets. This took the edge off the pain and so I was able to get through the day and rest it in the evening. Still hurting BTW but is a little easier to get around.

Have almost finished my Personal Mission Statement and I am now working on my short and long term goals. I may share some of it or all of it, depends how I am feeling.

Not sure if I am looking forward to Dr Who tonight and for the next two weeks as the series comes to an end. The stories should be good, from what I have picked up, but the fact that John 'I am gay, have you noticed? If not let me sing some show tunes for you' Barrowman is back as Captain Jack, could be too much to take.

Too good for words (rated 5 stars)

2007-06-15T11:32:00.001+01:00

Angela's Ashes

by Frank McCourt

Sometimes a book makes me laugh. Sometimes a book makes me cry. Never before has a book done these things to me with the intesity that Frank McCourt’s classic did. And certainly never have I laughed out loud and then been close to tears within one sentence. For anyone who hasn’t read this you will not be disappointed, but if you are disappointed, I couldn’t ‘give a fiddler’s fart’.

See more about Angela's Ashes

Thousands of statues to be removed from the UK

2007-06-10T14:18:00.000+01:00

Now that is the way to scare any innate state of daylights out of the nation's children. I am, of course, talking about the fantastic episode of Dr Who broadcast last night. 'Blink' was written by the guy who is rapidly becoming the best episode writer of the revamped series, Steven Moffat. Well I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet but suffice to say, children throughout the UK will be scared stiff of any form of statue for the rest of their lives. I only hope that as a result of this episode the cows might be removed from MK.

Talking of MK, the dons are still without a manager since Martin Allen was lured to the sunny climate of Leicester. Rumour has it that Mickey Adams, the former Coventry boss could be on his way to lead the team out for its first match at the new Denbigh Stadium.

Your challenge (broadband only)

2007-06-04T21:23:00.001+01:00

watch the classic Dexter's Lab cartoon episode and NOT hum along!

enjoy

Community saves photo site Zooomr?

2007-06-02T17:12:00.001+01:00

Having previously blogged about my online photo storage concerns last month, it was with some worry that I followed the story of Zooomr, a new web app run by two guys. I loved their ethos, openness and the feel of the site. However, as they struggled to upgrade their system to Mark  III their whole tech infrastructure fell apart. They wrote about it, we watched, we felt their pain and they asked for a little help... and boy did they get it.

If you follow the link below you can find out more but basically I think this shows that actually we can be nice to one another every now and then... even the big corporate types. There is hope for this planet yet.

And, when it comes to my next piece of upgrading or what online app to use, my first port of call will be ZOHO, Dell and if I ever have the need Sun.

Official Zooomr Blog : Zoho Saves the Day

Same old, same old

2007-05-31T11:04:00.000+01:00

Not been feeling too well recently and coupled with the fact that most of my spare time has been taken up doing a lot of freelance work I seem to have neglected posting anything here. Also I am a bit lazy at times and so it is far easier to post to twitter than here.

Went to see the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean the other night. It wasn't bad but at the same time I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two. I felt a distinct lack of tension throughout so perhaps it was the fault of the director.

Can't really afford to go to the cinema again in the near future and that is a shame as I'd like to see The Simpsons, Shrek 3, Die Hard 4 and Fantastic Four 2 plus all those numbers are beginning to make my head ache.

Prison Break has almost finished on Five so I'll gain an hour there.

And finally Dr Who, as expected, got into its stride with Human Nature. A superb episode, well written and with a scary feel that was worth waiting for. Can't wait for the second part of the episode.

Oh well, a weird week comes to an end

2007-05-25T20:24:00.000+01:00

Spent the week feeling a bit out of it really. Have been struggling with a cold for a couple of weeks but this week it seemed to come to fruition - lots of sneezing, coughing and filling of handerchiefs.

I am also upset that Martin Allen has left the MK Dons to got to Leicester... get ready for lots of tabloid headlines about a Mad Dog amongst the Foxes. However, I'd like to wish him all the best, he managed to halt the slide down the tables of a team that one day will be quite good (yeah, why not).

Going to rest a bit more now. Next week kicks off with a Bank Holiday and then two days of almost solid meetings... deep joy

That's it, I am officially old!

2007-05-23T13:25:00.000+01:00

Coming home last week from an event and I was listening to Steve Wright on Radio 2. (No, that's not it, and Radio 2 isn't for old people, with Russel Brand and co they have an eclectic mix of DJs). Still, back to my little narrative. Steve Wright plays a series of oldies, chosen by a listener, each afternoon. As I drove I thought I may switch the station as I didn't really fancy listening to a bunch of old tracks, way before my time. However as the opening beats from the drum machine clicked in I felt as though I had been kicked in the stomach. Oldies? That was the Human League!

I think it may be time for me to hang up the guitar and get out the pipe and slippers.

News Headlines

2007-05-20T17:49:00.000+01:00

"Bong!" (that's the sound of Big Ben)

Chris Chibnall writes a reasonably good episode of Dr Who.

"Bong!"

The top two teams in the Premiership play out a boring showpiece FA Cup Final (me bitter with the result? never).

"Bong!"

Howard Moon arrested for signing photo for his fan.

"Bong!"

I must stop procrastinating

Organisation, GTD, life-goals and so forth

2007-05-19T23:06:00.001+01:00

I have been striving to organise myself since I was born, or so it seems. A couple of years ago I got into David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity and that has been very helpful in clearing my desk and keeping my inbox empty.

Whether it is because of my personality (INTP last time I checked) or some other quirk that I have (and I have many), I have found that GTD hasn't provided a complete answer for me. Although GTD talks about reviewing your life in terms of short term goals, longer term goals and life itself, the book itself is a little sparse at this point. In an interview with David Allen he said that this was an area that perhaps needed expanding. While he thinks about doing that I need to crack on with things though.

GTD has been for me a very 'reactive' approach to organisation. Dealing with items as they arrive, sorting them and dealing with them as and when they need to be. This works perfectly well and as a system is great. It is basically a bottom up system. I like to see the big picture, I like to view things a whole and therefore I crave a top down approach. The problem is, when I have tried top down approaches before I don't get anything done, or I get things done way past the deadline.

Therefore I am working on my own hack of GTD (as most people do and as David Allen says use what works for you.) The main mantra of GTD is probably to aim for what is called the 'mind like water'. This is that everything needs to be out of your head and onto lists. If it is in your head, it is on your mind and therefore causing you stress, worry and stopping you from being fully productive. My problem has been that the big things are also on my mind and so I need to deal with them. In this, I have found Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change really helpful.

The next steps I am going to take to move forward in this are the following. I'll keep you all up to date on what I am doing and perhaps you'll find some of the things helpful too.

Write a Personal Mission Statement
Create my 3 to 5 year goals
Create my 1 to 2 year goals
Note my areas of responsibility (this will provide me with things that need to be regularly done)
Keep a list of projects
Keep contextual next action lists handy

Although GTD advocates the above I want to be more proactive in putting things into my own 'inbox', for GTD purists I suppose it is making sure I do a weekly review and regular 'mindsweep, but for me it is more about making sure my top down relates to my bottom up, and no that isn't a euphemism.

A funny old week

2007-05-18T08:21:00.000+01:00

Well this week has been and has almost gone, and it has been a strange one. It started off with me feeling very much under the weather, a mixture of sore throat, headache and hay fever. Yesterday I was out of the office but working and today I am back at work trying to catch up. The week will end with me watching the FA Cup final and then Dr Who, although I will also be doing a fair bit of writing on Saturday too. I'm not holding out too much hope for Dr Who this week as it is written by the head writer of Torchwood, as Stan Lee would say... 'nuff said'.

Talking about Stan Lee I just realised I hadn't written anymore about Spider-Man 3. Well I liked it. I didn't think it was too busy and as a 'comic book' film it was most enjoyable. I did find I started to dislike Mary Jane through the film and have subsequently thought that she is perhaps the one actor who was wrongly cast, but time will tell. Sam Raimi has done a good job with these films and as someone who read Spider-man from its very beginnings, when realeased in the UK, I give it the thumbs up.

So to sign off I wish the lads of Manchester Utd all the best for tomorrow and now back to the inbox.

Arthur becomes all-powerful? (rated 4 stars)

2007-05-10T08:44:00.001+01:00

Lady Friday (The Keys To The Kingdom)

by Garth Nix

This is book five in the seven book series. From the first book I was engrosed in the concept and the ideas that it contained. Young Arthur, by chance (?), becomes the rightful heir to the House, and over seven days he faces the trustees whom he must overcome, collect the keys and free the seven parts of the will of the architect – who has simply gone away.

This is all well and good and so far the books have each had clever ideas that have kept interest as the series moves forward. My only criticism is that by now, Arthur’s confidence and power has grown so much that there is little that seems to pose a problem to him.

Hopefully this will be a lull before the storm as he gets ready to face Superior Saturday in the next instalment.

See more about Lady Friday (The Keys To The Kingdom)

Spider-man 3

2007-05-08T08:40:00.000+01:00

Oh and yeah I went to see the above. A more substantial review when I get the chance, but in short I liked it.

Oh and I finally got to see Kill Bill Vol I - fantastic

A long weekend and a lot happened

2007-05-08T08:29:00.000+01:00

And so the Bank Holiday weekend comes to an end, and what a weekend it was.

For the first time in ages we managed to get out and about, beyond the local high street, in our new car. I also managed to pull a muscle, or strain a tendon, or something in my left hand. It is between the first and second finger. While this doesn't hurt too much, apart from a dull ache, while the hand is still it does mean that whenever I try and grip anything it hurts quite considerably.

In other news Manchester United are once again Premiership Champions, nine times in fifteen years.

Dr Who was OK, although I am not liking this series as much so far, even though it has been slightly better - OK, I know that sounds weird but I know what I mean. Still the best stories are yet to come and the end of the series promises to be good - no spoilers here :-)

I did a lot more this weekend but at the moment can't remember, if I do I'll post.

Where will my photos end up? Microsoft to buy Yahoo?

2007-05-04T16:48:00.000+01:00

I feel like a free-thinking Christian the day before Constantine unites the Roman Empire...

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/04/microsoft-pursues-yahoo-takeover/

Yahoo photos, Flickr and what should I do?

2007-05-04T08:31:00.000+01:00

I am quite interested in what plays out with the following link. Apparently Yahoo will be shutting down their photos bit and encouraging peeps to use Flickr instead. Why am I so interested? Well, I use Flickr and I also use Yahoo Photos. Flickr is mainly for public stuff and Yahoo as an online storage facility. As part of my ISP subscription I get unlimited storage on Yahoo but I don't on Flickr as I am not a pro account.

Even my nice warm cup of tea isn't helping me worrying about this one.

http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9715882-2.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Webware

Worried for a minute

2007-05-01T16:41:00.000+01:00

For those outside the UK the following will make little sense. But it seems we almost came very close to losing one of the living comedy gods of our generation. Read on...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6600000/newsid_6601300/6601395.stm

Cold Tea Again

2007-05-01T08:53:00.001+01:00

Well it is a new name for the blog I was thinking about. I simply deleted an old blog and used the title from that. Therefore, note to self… sometimes the simple solution is the best one.
http://dazzer67.blogspot.com

See more progress on: think of a new name for my blogger diary/blog

Cold Tea Again

2007-04-30T11:54:00.000+01:00

Is this the beginning of something new?
Is this a return to ancient ways?

Actually it is a little of both.

'Darren's Diary' is being renamed 'Cold Tea Again'. My other blogger blog, Cold Tea Again, will no longer be updated. However, I will be pulling in all the posts from that blog into this one. I will also be stopping Roundacow, and pulling those posts into this blog too.

Therefore, I will have 'one blog to rule them all'.

However, as I still sign up for every Web 2.0 site that is out there and have plenty of paid for web space too, this isn't the only place you'll find me.

I have put my foot in it

2007-04-27T08:56:00.000+01:00

Well, we now have a car so my carbon footprint has increased considerably. I have tried to offset it this morning by not asking for a carrier bag when I bought two bottles of coke.

Car: Little, old, Ford Fiesta, white

Will be loved and cared for in the hope that it lasts better than our old Astra.

Oh, but our bunny died. A day of mourning was held. It was old and had come to the end of its tenure on this planet. It has been buried in the flower bed.*

*note to self: can you call it a flower bed if you have no flowers in it?

'Let us out'

2007-04-25T12:24:00.000+01:00

I hear the cry from the washed clothes in our washing machine. 'let us out' they chorus. Of course I am not holding the clothes hostage. I am unable to let them out because the handle has broken. A full load of clothes are therefore being held hostage by the uncaring Ariston machine, until the man can come and fix the handle.

At least he is a friendly man.

String theory?

2007-04-22T18:36:00.000+01:00

The water pressure from our mains cold water feed is very weak.

We have damp on our wall and I don't know where it is coming from.

Some vague connection?