Crawling through technology, life and love

Contact me:
hotmail
home


Listening:

Playing:
Mario Kart - Wii

iTuning:
Podcasts - Chris Moyles, Mark Kermode and Stephen Fry

Reading:
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon

Bits and Bobs:
Wish List
Gerry's Lyrics Pop Quiz
Minipops Quiz

Sites I like:
Marc Almond
Top 40 Singles
News
IMdb
The Register
Hacks
Recent GBlogs
Arsenal FC

Some blogs I enjoy:
bboyblues2000
bitful
blogadoon
brainsluice
chig
groc
minkered
scally
sparky
troubled diva

Books recently read:
My Booky Wook - Russell Brand
When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
Then We Come To The End - Joshua Ferris
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas
I Never Knew That About London - Christopher Winn
The Arsenal Miscellany - Adam Gold
Young Hearts Run Free: The Real Story of the 1970s - Dave Haslam
Magical Thinking - Augusten Burroughs
Veronika Decides To Die - Paulo Coelho
Time Out Guide - Amsterdam
Lillian's Story - Kate Grenville
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Schott's Original Miscellany - Ben Schott
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling
A Gay History Of Britain - Matt Cook
Time Out Guide to Madrid
Time Out Guide to New York
Kingdom Come - J. G. Ballard
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
Mutants - Aramand Marie Leroi
A Young Man's Passage - Julian Clary
Growing Pains - Billie Piper
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
Highbury: The Story of Arsenal N.5 - Jon Spurling
Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins - Rupert Everett
Affinity - Sarah Waters
Lighthousekeeping - Jeanette Winterson
Tipping The Velvet - Sarah Waters
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Of Human Bondage - W Somerset Maugham
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
Lucky Man - Michael J Fox
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
The Night Watch - Sarah Waters
The Pedant's Revolt - Andrea Barham
The Republic Of Trees - Sam Taylor
Written On tbe Body - Jeanette Winterson
Untold Stories - Alan Bennett
The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
Read All About It - Max Clifford
The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst
Thursbitch - Alan Garner
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
Staying Alive - Matt Beaumont
The Bookseller Of Kabul - Asne Seierstad
Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince - J K Rowling
A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Count Karlstein - Philip Pullman
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Spell - Alan Hollinghurst
The Double Life Of Daniel Glick - Maurice Caldera
The Smoking Diaries - Simon Gray
Straight- Boy George
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
Deception Point - Dan Brown
The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Sydney - Time Out Guide
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
The Scarecrow and His Servant - Philip Pullman
Tha Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Planet Simpson - Chris Turner
The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
Barcelona - Time Out Guide
The Closed Circle - Jonathan Coe
The Clerkenwell Tales - Peter Ackroyd
Copenhagen - TimeOut Guide
The Butterfly Tattoo - Philip Pullman
The Broken Bridge - Philip Pullman
In Search of the Pleasure Palace - Marc Almond
Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
Last Exit To Brooklyn - Hubert Selby Jr
You Shall Know Our Velocity - Dave Eggers
Touching The Void - Joe Simpson
Life Of Pi - Yann Martel
Istanbul - Time Out Guide
Millennium People - J G Ballard
The Duchess Who Wouldn't Sit Down - Jesse Browner
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Our Man In Havana - Graham Greene
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
Lyra's Oxford - Philip Pullman
Doran - Will Self
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
the book, the film, the t-shirt - matt beaumont
High Society - Ben Elton
Man And Wife - Tony Parsons
I Was A Rat - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix - J R Rowling
Great Apes - Will Self
Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
Round Ireland With A Fridge - Tony Hawkes
Close Range - Annie Proux
The Third Way - Anthony Giddens
dot.con - John Cassidy
The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
One Hit Wonderland - Tony Hawkes
The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Cloud Sketcher - Richard Rayner
Keane: the Autobiography - Roy Keane
A Wasteland of Strangers - Bill Pronzini
The English - Jeremy Paxman
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - Toby Young
Dead Famous - Ben Elton
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman (again)
The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman (again)
Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman (again)
The Bear and The Dragon - Tom Clancy
101 Reykjavik - Hallgrimur Helgason
Forward The Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold
The Tin Princess - Philip Pullman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Tiger In The Well - Philip Pullman
The Rotters Club - Jonathan Coe
Generation X - Douglas Copeland
Perfume - Patrick Suskind
All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
The Shadow In The North - Phillip Pullman
No Logon - Naomi Klein
The Dirt - Motley Crue
Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife - Phillip Pullman
Northern Lights - Phillip Pullman
The Ruby in the Smoke - Phillip Pullman
The Sandman - Miles Gibson
Blood and Gold: The Vampire Marius - Anne Rice
The Actrocity Exhibition - J G Ballard
Shameless - Paul Burston
Sing Out! - Boze Hadleigh
Brilliant Orange - David Winner
New Boy - William Sutcliffe
London - Peter Ackroyd
Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
One For My Baby - Tony Parsons
How To Be Good - Nick Hornby
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Lust - Geoff Ryman
Tulip Fever - Deborah Moggach
Dead Souls - Ian Rankin
The House Of Sleep - Jonathan Coe
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
What a carve up! - Jonathan Coe
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Heartwood - James Lee Burke
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Man and Boy - Tony Parsons
The Map Of Love - Ahdaf Soueif
e - Matt Beaumont
The e Before Christmas - Matt Beaumont


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Stu and I are on our way to the Eternal City (via T5). Not looking
forward to the flight but am looking forward to the Roman ways.
Averberderchy!
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I've just bought myself a new compact digital camera. A Samsung NV100HD. A risky thing to do just before going on holiday I realise. The specs look good though; 14.7M, wide angle lens, hi-def, ISO 3200, face detection, blink detection, smile detection, beauty shot, anti-red eye, etc. Time will tell if it's any good as a camera!
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On Sunday was Andrew's birthday and he threw a party. All the gang was there so it was nice to catch up with everyone. Below are some of the snaps I took. And you can see the others by clicking here.

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Stu and I are off to Rome on Thursday for a long weekend. I've not been for twenty-five years. And Stu has never been but has always wanted to go. Main task of the trip? Nun spotting.

And thanks to Luca for the tourist tips.
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Hudd gave me a shopping list of things to get at the DIY store. "We need some Decorators Caulk", he said. He wasn't grinning so I guessed that that was what we needed. Some Decorators Caulk.

Fast forward twenty minutes and I was at the counter of the DIY store. "Can I have some Decorators Caulk please?" All smirks behind the counter. "Quick hardening or slow hardening?" says the guy. "Quick hardening", say I. "We only have white. We don't do black caulk. That OK?". More smirking. I redden somewhat realising that they are taking the piss out of me. "No, that's fine. White's fine. Four please".

After I get back Hudd tells we. It's pronounced "cork" not "cock". Opps.
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Last Thursday Sky came back on Virgin TV. Peace has broken out at last. The new channels are Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky 3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2. So we get to see new The Simpsons again. Yay!
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Last Friday Stu treated me to a night at the National Theatre. We went to see DV8's fabulous show To Be Straight With You.

DV8 are a radical dance troupe whose work is often riveting, usually political and always sexy. This show was "a multi-ethnic cast in a poetic but unflinching exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality". It is based on hundreds of hours of audio interviews collected throughout the UK with people directly affected by homophobia; incorporating dance, text, documentary, animation and film. It was utterly fascinating, great fun to watch and very moving.
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I had a bad feeling about this game and what with our recent inconsistency in form to back me up I had all my fingers and toes crossed as the game started. Sadly things planned out the way I'd feared. We played awfully. Needless to say Paul and I were gutted.
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Yay! Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In The World season 2.
[Thanks Iain]
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The gang was out last night for the lovely Sarah's birthday. We started off at the Refuel Bar at Soho Hotel and then moved on to Patara Thai in Greek Street. Great fun and always lovely to see everyone. Some more snaps here.
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Paul, Barry, Cat and I went to the footie last night. It was a master class by the young gunners (average age 18) showing just how well they can play 'the beautiful game'. Good night out.
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I've got three weeks off work so have decided to put the time to good use. I'm painting my flat. Well, to be more accurate first Simon and now Hudd are painting my flat for me and I'm merely the painter's mate (i.e. pretending to help). As with all painting it takes way longer than you first think, you come across more problems than you first think and you need to buy more paint than you first think. But boy is it worth it. The lads have done (and are continuing to do) a marvelous job. Brilliant white is the order of the day with just the odd splash of colour here and there. So it's all paint fumes and snow blindness round here at the moment. Should be worth it though.
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Oh my giddy aunt. We had our fingers crossed for this one. It was the first time we were playing another team from the "top four" this season and what with our recent dip in form... We've come in for a lot of stick in the last week or two what with drawing and/or losing against second rate teams. So the signs weren't good for this match.

As it turned out it was a wonderfully open game though. Because (rather than in spite) of our recent criticism and the sight of old rivals we were perhaps the more inspired of the two teams: Nasri scored after 22mins and again after 48mins. It fact it looked like we were all set for a comfortable win. But as ever Man U were not to be underrated - especially in the dying minutes of a game. The obviously biased ref (but I would say that) gave them a ridiculously generous six minutes of extra time but still they could only pull one back. So the final score of 2-1 was not only a blessed relief but also a fairly accurately reflection the play. Phew!

On a gossipy front, Robbie and Gary were reunited at match.
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So I went to Allied Carpets yesterday and their initial quote (full quote due from the pending measure up) for what was actually a cheaper carpet than John Lewis was still sky high. £4650! So I'm obviously way out of touch with the costs of carpets these days. And what puts the John Lewis costs into an even better light is this; I was coming out of Allied Carpets when I bumped into my neighbour. She said that she did a lot of research for their own recent recarpeting job and the cheapest they found was just over £6000. So it actually sounds like my John Lewis quote actually might be a good deal! My flabber had never been so gasted.
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I like John Lewis. I really do. Nice products, friendly staff and great service. And let's not forget their motto: "Never Knowlingly Undersold".

But what does that motto mean exactly? I presume it means "we're the cheapest around - as far as we know" or maybe "we'll match the price of any other store" or even "we don't charge over the odds if we can help it"? I wonder. Apparently it means less than it did I year ago.

Why my pondering? Well, I got a quote for recarpeting my flat today. Two quotes actually. Both from John Lewis. The first was for cheap hard wearing carpet throughout the flat and the second was for some additional flooring in a small bathroom with vinyl tiles. And the cost including fitting? £4998 for the carpet and £467 for the vinyl. WHAT?! Am I so out of touch with the price of carpets? I thought it might be getting towards three grand from my back of envelope calculations but not five and half. And I don't even get a deep shag out of it (fnah).

So I think a trip up the road might be in order.
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"I think it's a sacking offence to make light of the murder of anybody, never mind prostitute women who are vulnerable and criminalised", Cari Mitchell, English Collective of Prostitutes. Oh for goodness sake. "Crack a joke, lose your job". Is that the new BBC motto these days. Get a spine BBC! Tell them all to piss off!
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Our league results have been disappointing in recent weeks unlike our European form. So it was with some excitement that Drew and I went to the Emirates last night. Sadly Fenerbahce held us to a draw. Grrr.
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Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States. Yay!

Obama - Democrat - 349
McCain - Republican - 162
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Did you perhaps think that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the worst Star Wars production ever produced? Well, let me tell you that things got way, way worse back in 1978. Ladies and gentlemen I give you The Star Wars Holiday Special. Truly toe curling.
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The Pet Shop Boys will be presented with an outstanding contribution to music award at next year's Brits, it has been announced.
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Last Friday Darren, Stuart and I went to see Mari Wilson (sadly without The Wilsations although Michelle Collins was in the audience) at the Shaw Theatre.

Mari Wilson was basically touring to publicise her latest album Emotional Glamour and, as she put it, a gambol* through her hit. Nudging 60 but looking like she's nudging 40, Wilson is a quirky singer/songwriter who performs early 1960s styled pop music. We were treated to, amongst others, to; Beat The Beat, Cry Me A River, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and of course her classic Just What I Always Wanted.

Sadly no trademark beehive hairdo though.

*just in case you don't know (I didn't), gambol means to run about in a playful manner; frolic.
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Three bits of bad news at the moment:

1. David Tennant leaving Dr Who. It was to be expected I guess and perhaps inevitable what with a new producer coming in.

2. Russell Brand resigning. A complete overreaction. I used to love Russell's BBC Radio 6 and BBC Radio 2 shows. I thought the call he and Jonathan Ross made was very funny. End of.

3. Tottenham stealing a draw. See below.
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Paul and I went to the game last night. Oh, my giggy aunt. The lucky, lucky bastards. We played by far the best game on the night and they stole goal after goal. It was certainly thrilling stuff right up until the last 40 seconds but, boy, did we deserve the win.
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I'm probably the only one who doesn't like the heavily promoted E4 horror show Dead Set. The reviews have all been pretty positive. But I don't really like zombie films - only one step up from awful money saving 'body snatcher' films. And I always think fake blood and fake gore looks 'cheap'. And fictionalised Big Brother is even worse than real Big Brother - even if it is a scathing attack on the genre. So I guess I was never going to like it. I do hope it's a success though as I think the idea of a nightly show over a whole week is good one.
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Yes, the truth is finally out. The 'next' version of Windows will be Windows Azure. Well, strictly speaking it'll not be a version of Windows per se but a service platform to run along side client based computing. So it's a collection of services really. Or as Microsoft put it, "software to give you the ability to build new applications in the cloud - or use interoperable services that run on Microsoft infrastructure to extend and enhance your existing applications. The Azure Services Platform provides a wide range of internet services that can be consumed from both on-premises environments or the internet". So now you know.

Shorthand; they're going after Google and Amazon (and maybe Facebook) - to add IBM, Novell and Lotus to their scalps.
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Last Friday Stu and I went to see cabaret artist and New York icon Justin Bond perform his show Lustre at the Soho Theatre.

It was a great show; potent, musical and very entertaining with just the right amount of pathos and the right amount of politics. I will confess however I do miss him performing as Kiki in Kiki and Herb and I hope the rumours of them not gigging again together are just that. The cancelled gigs earlier this summer were ominous though.

The two support acts were a cute accordion play (who we saw again the following night at Duckie) and Martyn Jacques of the Tiger Lillies who performed the rather marvelous Banging in the Nails. Even today I'm still humming, "I'm bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, banging in the nails."
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Are you good at finding things? Finding a four leaf clover is always good luck. Check out this fuzzy picture and see if you can spot it.

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Ah, how sweet? A little duckie. A little silent duckie. Oh. Wait. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Silentduck.jpg
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Want a career with Research In Motion? Apply at http://rim.jobs/ of course. Fnah.
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Last Sunday Mark organised tickets for Mikey, Kevin, Stuart and I to go and see Scott Capurro at the Hen and Chickens.

We didn't sit at the front - hey, we'd seen his act before and we didn't want to get picked on. That didn't stop him though. Mark got rather mercilessly bullied. When he did try to talk back - guess who had the microphone?

The material was 'challenging' (to say the least). And uncomfortable. But that's why it was funny. I guess. Well I laughed!
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On Friday night Stuart, Paul, Simon and I went to see French & Saunders - Still Alive! at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

After 30 years together French and Saunders are finally calling time on their double act. Last year's A Bucket Of French & Saunders filled us with some anticipation - and not in a good way. We needn't have worried. The show was fantastic. A great mix of character comedy, parody and banter.

We were treated to old stuff reimagined; white room set Doctor's sketch, Jen's leotard clad reprise of her bulky Madonna impression, Sex Talk (the first sketch they wrote together), the original Ab Fab sketch and the expats from Biddeford marvelling at how big everything is in America.

And new stuff; The Vicar of Dibley vs. Absolutely Fabulous rivalry, Dawn taking a chocolate detector into the stalls and finding a rat in someone’s cleavage, a tragic bitter-sweet routine about two teens spending Christmas at boarding school, a pre-recorded Strictly Come Dancing sequence morphing into the old ladies dancing with mannequins of the show’s Anton du Beke and Brendon Cole and the sisters from Prickly Pear Farm in court.

The ending was a bit Little Britain (fat men's rubber willies) but very funny all the same.

Best line: “I banish you to UK Gold!” Too true. But is that such a bad thing?
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Marky and I went to the Emirates earlier to watch the game. A rampant second half display secured a much deserved win. Just reward for an impressive second half display coming from 0-1 behind. Yay!
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Click here to search Flickr by colour - utterly fab. He's my pink version.
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