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[417] Keep on walking October 30th, 2006 – 1:23pm Posted in Events No comments

Yesterday, as Lois has mentioned, I walked somewhere between 10 and 13 miles down a canal to, of all places, Chorley. What began as a pleasant amble along a towpath on a Sunday afternoon ended in a panicked rush to get off the pitch-black canal and back into civilisation; that civilisation in this case was the deafening motorway was by the by. The net result of the day/night is that I’m knackered and I feel like I’ve got the arthritis-riddled hip joint of a 75 year-old man, so I can’t go to the gym on my first day of membership.

D’oh.

[416] A song from my youth October 26th, 2006 – 5:22pm Posted in Memories No comments

Party Fears Two by Associates is a very gay song but it reminds me of a whole part of my childhood that I can’t quite grasp; it sums up a bundle of memories and places that are impossible to define in words.

[415] Priced out October 25th, 2006 – 2:22pm Posted in Bad Things, Geek 4 comments

It’s not something I’ve really paid too much attention to in the past, what with being a student and having friends to live with, but in the situation I am in these days I’ve had to start thinking about how I’m going to sort myself (or more accurately, ourselves) a place to live for the rest of my life. I’m renting a flat at the moment and it’s not pleasant throwing money down the drain like this.

A while back, I began reading up on the problem that first time buyers like me are facing. The issue seems to have come out of nowhere to me because the last time I thought about it was around five or six years ago and I remember finding plenty of houses that even myself back then, a single man on a factory worker’s wage, could have afforded. Yet when I look at the same …read more.

[413] FoxyTunes October 24th, 2006 – 1:58pm Posted in Geek No comments

FoxyTunes is a really nice little add-on for Firefox which lets you control your music player through a little toolbar in the browser. I’m finding it really handy at work where I’m forced to use a slow laptop with a small screen; being able to control Winamp this way saves me an age loading up the main player just to change the volume or skip a track.

Firefox 2 (RC3) is also out now, by the way. It’s not vastly different but has a few nice features.

[409] That Friday feeling October 21st, 2006 – 3:27pm Posted in Daft No comments

It’s twenty years now since Cadbury laid claim to one full day’s worth of the nation’s happiness with the “Friday Feeling” slogan for their Crunchie bars. You weren’t happy because five days of torture at work were coming to a brief tease of an end – you were happy because you were rotting your teeth away with a slimy coat of golden honeycomb!

Of course, Cadbury could not seriously claim to have invented the Friday feeling, as history shows happiness pre-dates golden honeycomb. Several passages of the bible mention Jesus “smiling”, although it was “in a smug and unknowledgeable way”. A seemingly-nondescript short story in a 1797 Ann Radcliffe collection, entitled A Fryday Ferling, tells the story of a poor family terrorised by a tortured spirit, only on Fridays – until they discover he was killed by a contaminated batch of golden honeycomb and only wishes the family never to …read more.

[411] Keane at the Apollo October 19th, 2006 – 2:38pm Posted in Events 3 comments

Last night I went to see Keane at the Apollo in Manchester with a load of my family and friends as a surprise birthday present for my dad. It was a pretty good night, although the pressure of keeping it a secret and trying to keep the suspense going was a load I think everyone was happy to drop when we finally got in there to see them.

I know Keane aren’t everyone’s cup of tea (cue Leigh), but they have a decent set of songs that musically go beyond straight MOR pop. Last night’s setlist was a bit odd, but that was very likely because they’re promoting their new album; whereas on the last two occasions I’ve seen them live it’s been at a festival where they played to create atmosphere, here they played a lot of their slower stuff and annoyingly (for me) they kept alternating all …read more.

[407] Extras October 14th, 2006 – 1:52pm Posted in Thoughts No comments

I was just about to list the multitude of repetitive themes and jokes in Extras, but then remembered the same applies to every other programme I’ve ever seen, including the excellent Curb Your Enthusiasm which after three series is trapped knee-deep in a quagmire of farce and enforced madness. It doesn’t stop them all being good to watch, though.

[406] Beggars belief October 13th, 2006 – 6:33pm Posted in Events 1 comment

I have just had a mad experience involving a lonely Romanian woman and a racist ex-TA mercenary which I will elaborate upon when I don’t have washing-up, cooking, showering and a night of farewell-socialising to be done.

[404] Joey Barton’s arse October 10th, 2006 – 12:37pm Posted in Daft No comments

Another week, another load of football bureaucrats getting wound up over something and nothing – this time, Joey Barton showing his arse at a bunch of scousers.

I can’t help but think back to the glory days of Blackburn life in the early 90s, when not only could I get on buses for half price, not only were Snap in the charts, but Colin Hendry showed his arse before Rovers games.

Sadly, no-one yet seems to have put a photo of Colin baring his backside at the crowd’s demand on the internet, which when you consider the drivel that has made it up here I’ll think you’ll agree is a crying shame. I’ll have to describe in words, then, the simple pleasures of 15,000 people chanting a grown man’s name to encourage him to drop his pants and show his arse to the world.

When Rovers moved up to the Premiership, …read more.

[403] Telemophone October 9th, 2006 – 2:15pm Posted in Events 4 comments

Lost: one mobile phone.

If you find it, please can I have it back?

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