Valencia Pictures...

More Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain Remixes...

There are at least SIX other King Of The Mountain remixes: King Of The Mountain (Mountain Mix), King Of The Mountain (12" Remix), King Of The Mountain (Grand Canyon Remix), King Of The Mountain (That Kick Inside Remix), King Of The Mountain (This Cloudbusting Dub Mix). Sample the sort of thing here.

Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain (Radioslave Mix)...

Radio One's Blue Room is broadcast on Saturdays at 5am-7am hosted by DJ Rob Da Bank. He plays some great tracks (recent tracklisting here) including a remix of Kate Bush's King Of The Mountain done by Radioslave. It's a white label 6m 48s track but not commercial available (yet).

If you happened to have missed it you can listen to it again for the next seven days at the BBC's listen again site. The Kate song is about 35 minutes into the show so you can jump by 15 mins twice and then 5 mins to be in about the right spot. Enjoy!

Valencia I'll Be Bound...

It was a very bumping Ryanair flight yesterday out of Stansted so I drank lots and talked to strangers. No change there then! I did finally arrive in one piece here in Valencia old town and very nice it is too; ye olde entrance gate, massive turrets, 10m thick city wall - the lot. Really very charming. Simon and Paul live near a square called Placa Del Tossal (yeah, I know). Being central this is where all the town halls, markets, shops and nightlife are: the 'happening' part of town. So we did some exploring last night and took in some of the local colour eventually finding ourselves in a bar called Nuncadigono which apparently, and perhaps rather aptly, means 'never say no'. Ahem. I can see this going to be a fun few days.

Lost (In Translation)...

Er... what exactly was that nonsense all about then? Twenty-five weeks I watched that show and that's how they repay me! Last night's two hour Lost finale was simply a ramshackle of over-long and over-frequent advert breaks and very slow moving plotless action. Sure the bit with the geography teacher was funny but the whole thing smacked of Oh-goody-they've-commissioned-a-second-series-so-let's-not-give-too-much-away-and-change-what-we-were-going-to-do-and-throw-in-a-couple-of-cliff-hangers. And how redundant is that French woman? Grrrr. I'm never going to watch a Disney show ever again! Grrrr.

SkinCFC's Male Erotic Gallery (SMEG)...

I'm off to Valencia later on today to go and stay with the rather rather lovely and gorgeous (and let's not forget talented) Simon. Paul is joining us tomorrow.

Simon has a web site where you can browse and indeed buy his rather wonderful artwork. Go take a look see at SkinCFC's Male Erotic Gallery (SMEG). "Warning! This website may contain nuts."

Brain Teasers Answers...

One tricky one and one obvious one this time around.

1. Write the alphabet in a 3-row grid with the following values: A, J, S = 1; B, K, T = 2; C, L, U = 3; D, M, V = 4; E, N, W = 5; F, O, X = 6; G, P, Y = 7; H, Q, Z = 8; I, R = 9. Thus Raphael = 9 + 1 + 7 + 8 + 1 + 5 + 3 = 34

2. 72. It is the only non-square number.

Brain teasers...

1. If Picasso is worth 28 and Monet is worth 22, how much is Raphael worth?

2. Which is the odd one out: Thirty-six, Sixty-four, Seventy-two, Twenty-five, Eighty-one?

The Singing Dictionary...

The dictionary meets karaoke at Dictionaraoke. I particularly like Take On Me.

2005 Was Extended By One Second...

You know that awkward moment on New Year's Eve just towards twelve when no one is quite sure exactly when midnight hits? Everyone's looking at their watch nervously and then someone starts loudly counting down from ten and you think, "well it's not quite right by my watch but let's join in anyway". Well, this new year just gone you had slightly more reason to be skeptical of these gun jumpers than normal.

Scientists extended 2005 by one second.

For the first time in seven years the Earth's rotation has necessitated a "leap second". The extra snippet was added to atomic clocks at midnight Coordinated Universal Time - the same as UK winter time. Said clocks read 23:59:60 before rolling over to 00:00:00.

Although leap seconds could, if required, be deducted (a "negative leap second"), they have always been added "reflecting the Earth's general slowing trend due to tidal braking". The decision as to whether a leap second is needed - and the criterion is that universal timekeeping should be within 0.9 seconds of the Earth's rotation - is decided by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service.

Did you notice a bit of extra drinking time this New Year just gone? No, me neither.

Who knew burbing would take so long?...

I spent a lovely afternoon with the triplets yesterday. Blimey, they've grown! Great fun feeding and burping them. But who knew burbing would take so long?

I can't decide which is my favourite because they are all so sweet. I shouldn't have a favourite, you say? No, I guess not. But then again it'll give then something to fight over later in life. Tee hee.

De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrêté...

On Friday Stuart treated me to a film as thank you for doing some taping for him. Not only did he treat me to the film but he bought me a copy of his favourite book too - Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. Nice lad.

De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrêté (aka The Beat That My Heart Skipped) is a gritty psychological drama set in the dark, dank streets of Paris. The film is based on the cult favourite Fingers with Harvey Keitel. In this remake, the very cute Romain Duris stars as Tom, a ne-'er-do-well who works with two scheming real estate men, Fabrice (Jonathan Zaccai) and Sami (Gilles Cohen), who have little or no morals. When Tom sees his mother's old agent, he decides to return to the piano, practicing Bach's Toccata in E Minor for an important audition that he envisions could be a life-changing event. He hires a Vietnamese woman, Miao-Lin (Linh-Dan Pham), as his teacher, even though they speak different languages. While struggling to regain his mastery of the piano - which he gave up after his virtuoso mother's tragic death - he is called upon by his partners to participate in more and more shady deals and even help one of them cheat on his wife (Aure Atika). He also has a troublesome relationship with his father (Niels Arestrup), who asks Tom to collect money he is owed, putting him in many dangerous and violent situations. The Beat That My Heart Skipped is an intelligent, involving film, told in long takes with a handheld camera - and that really gives the film a strong impact. Recommended.

Get back to work, George...

Georgeous George Galloway, obviously not quite as popular with his constituents as he would like...

As Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, George Galloway MP earns an annual basic salary of £61,708. Paid by you, the British taxpayer. So what’s he doing as a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother? This is how much Gorgeous George's Respect for his constituents has cost you so far. Get back to work, George.

Brokeback Mountain...

Matt and I went to see Brokeback Mountain last night while still on it's exclusive presentation at the Vue West End. It's nationwide from today.

It was moving film (well, the two women next to me were in tears pretty much throughout) of two gay cowboys from filmmaker Ang Lee - based on the short story by Annie Proulx. Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film is the story of a ranch-hand Ennis del Mar (played by the gorgeous Heath Ledger) and a rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (played by the equally gorgeous Jake Gyllenhaal)who meet in the summer of 1963. The pair unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection while spending the summer together working the sheep on Brokeback Mountain. There are of course complications (they both get married), joys (they meet again regularly for 'fishing trips') and tragedies (worry not, I'll not give the game away) along the way but on the whole I'd say the film is a testament to the endurance and power of love.

And of course the joke goes it should have been called not Brokeback Mountain but Bareback Mountain. Better title might have been Spit and Shove Mountain. Tee hee.

The Mental Health Hotline...

Welcome to The Mental Health Hotline (click link to hear).

Card Humour...

BBC News Opens Archives to Public...

The fall of the Berlin Wall and footage of the 1966 England World Cup team are among items released from the BBC News archives for the first time. I particularly like the Poll Tax Riot clip.

EastEnders' Mitchell Brothers Full Monty Kung-Fu Fighting...

It's all a bit depressing being back at work after the Christmas and New Year's breaks. It's cold and dark and damp outside and that inbox ain't getting any smaller... so why not let Grant and Phil Mitchell cheer you up with a striptease? I guess the title says it all: EastEnders' Mitchell Brothers Full Monty Kung-Fu Fighting clip.

From Russia With Love...

Hi! I have found your structure and I have liked you I with hope shall wait your letter on my email or write to me the email - I shall write to you Ilya. Several years ago steel it is pleasant to me of the man. And I not that that hesitate of they be to eat any awkwardness.... I have friends but they do not know about it. And I do not want to tell him it.... Can be to me men like because I grew in family where there was no man? I do not know it. My father has died for a long time when I was small. There was only my mum and my senior sister. I do not know what reaction will be at them on that that like me guys instead of girls.... Therefore I would like to understand the feelings.

Bless.

Duckie New Year's Eve...

Duckie was great fun. The tube strike didn't really materialize so I was good to go. Now if only I had (UPDATE: of course I mean 'hadn't' - paging Dr Freud!) left my ticket on my bedside table... d'oh! Matt, Aaron and I met up at Vauxhall Station though and we three had fun running round South Central chatting to the boys and chundering pints comme des poissons. Just after midnight we had a three-man conga round the pub in a let's-see-how-many-people-we-can-snog game. It was roaring success. Tie for first place seemed the only sensible outcome though.