Tidal pull
April 14th, 2008We spent both days of the weekend in one way or another back in the area where I grew up. By the sea. Very nice it was too. I’ve felt a dramatic pull towards the sea all of my life. It comes from growing up next to the sea. It’s like a magnetism which just pulls me towards the coast.
It could be any coast as well. Not just where I grew up. I’ve felt myself drawn to the sea in as diverse places as Tramore in Ireland and San Francisco. I think it’s in the blood.
Or you could love……
April 7th, 2008So he carried the stars in his pocket
Drank the sunrise till he was drunk
He embraced the angels
They swam like little minnows in his blood
Ghosts in his eyes
Out walking beside him
Laughing like children in his mind
They chanted his mantra together
You could love
They were happy
Been a while crocodile
April 3rd, 2008Bloody hell. It’s been ages. It seems that I can’t get a minutes peace to write this blog these days. It’s not as if I’ve been short of things to rant about.
Things I’m liking this week include:-
- Shameless
- Skins
- Listening to music
- Spartans trying to buy Gretna Football Club and then take their place in the league
- Nasi Goreng
Things I’m hating this week:-
- Work on the tram network
The tram work is starting to piss on my chips in quite a considerable manner. Our whole street is dug up. It’s like Quatermass and the Pit. Loads of blokes in high visibility jackets standing around looking into huge holes in the ground. We can’t park near the house, they keep screwing with our water pressure (they are rerouting utilities) and they leave their fucking generator running all night.
That wouldn’t be too bad if the whole city wasn’t dug up to the extent that traffic is at a standstill. Don’t worry though, because apparently the tram network will deliver excellent transport links by 2010. So, two years of chaos and traffic gridlock to make the journey to the airport 5 minutes quicker. Nice one. We love you Edinburgh Council.
I’ll be back soon to write about nice stuff, but at the moment, I don’t have the stomach for it.
Ich bin ein Azerothian
March 6th, 2008Yesterday brought the sad news that Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax had passed away. Although I did not know the man, and can’t possibly share the grief felt by those close to him, I felt an overwhelming sadness yesterday. Perhaps selfishly, I felt that part of my youth had died. I was a hugh roleplayer in the day and spent many wonderful hours playing with the products of Mr Gygax’s imagination. I could be a fighter, a thief a magic-user or perhaps a cleric, battling through endless dungeons. When I was 12 years old, computer games were in their infancy and there was no internet. The prospect of being able to enter an imaginary world and complete great quests was a dream come true.
Fast forward 25 years (is it really that long) and I still have the lovingly cared for 2nd edition rulebooks which were handed down to me by a friend of my father. They are still shut away in polythene waiting for the day when perhaps my own son will want to read them. Dungeons and Dragons has long since been hacked and bastardised by the people who purchased it from Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, but it’s natural heir in the modern world - World of Warcraft - goes from strength to strength.
I have played Warcraft now for 3 years and have 2 characters, one alliance and one horde. Azeroth is a rich and beautiful world which could never have come about without the vision of Gary Gygax. The game of World of Warcraft adheres so closely to the rules of the original that I can almost smell the stale teenage bedrooms, see the paper character sheets and hear the rattle of the dice.
Across Azeroth, from Ironforge to Orgrimmar, a very bright light flickered and then ultimately went out yesterday.
Switching allegiance
February 20th, 2008What’s going on? Berwick-Upon-Tweed wants to break away from England and become part of Scotland. Seems like Alex Salmond is the new messiah. At the risk of sounding harsh, anyone who abandons their country for the sake of cheaper prescriptions and a free bus pass for OAP’s needs shooting.
This is the age of the train
February 15th, 2008Call me weird but I actually like travelling by train the length and breadth of the country. Yesterday it was Leeds. Bit of a brutal start as I was out of bed at 4.50am to get showered, shaved and off to Waverley station for the 6.05 train. You certainly find yourself questioning (albeit temporarily) your chosen career path when you are pulling into Newcastle station and it’s only 7.15 in the morning though.
Having done a fair bit of travel with work, I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t beat the train. For starters you don’t have to strip down to your boxers and have the entire contents of your luggage examined before you get on the bloody thing. Air travel has become a bind because of this, especially when you find yourself minus shoes, your belt in your hand and your laptop being ’swabbed’ with an explosive detecting substance. Not that I don’t appreciate the good job these guys are doing for our security. It’s just fucking inconvenient.
That aside, the main reason I like the train is that I get to see this beautiful country. And it is a beautiful country. With Britain being historically a railway nation, not only is the countryside spectacular but there are an endless array of beautiful Victorian stations such as York and Darlington. When travelling by air, you miss all of this world of wonder and instead move from one sanitised island to another without seeing what lies between.
The train is quite simply a mode of travel much better suited to this modern gentlemen.
Moletastic
February 13th, 2008Whilst browsing in HMV yesterday, I stumbled across (not literally) a copy of ‘Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction’ by Sue Townsend. I loved the first Adrian Mole book, back when I was a boy. Little did I suspect that there was a modern sequel.
At first glance it seems like more of the same, except he spends his time measuring his bald patch instead of his wanger.
Radio Ga Ga
February 12th, 2008DAB radio is the new Betamax. Apparently.
The forthcoming death of Planet Rock radio suddenly seems to have heralded a new wave of speculation as to the future of DAB radio. Apparently, no-one is buying digital radios. What a lot of bollocks. How anyone can say that digital radio is not the future is beyond me. Just because the Luddites are afraid of the technology doesn’t make it shit technology. The thought of going back to tuning radios in using the old fashioned dial seems abhorent to me now.
Never mind that though. The biggest issue for me is that they are pulling the plug on Planet Rock. It has a breakfast show presented by Alice Cooper. That alone is a reason to keep it on. What a disgrace.
Time passes. Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold.
February 11th, 2008A classic quote from the classic text adventure ‘The Hobbit’ - ZX Spectrum circa 1983.
Absolutely nothing to do with this post. I was really just musing about how infrequently I manage to update this blog these days. People said to me that once you have a child you look forward to visits to the toilet just to get 5 mins to yourself. I didn’t believe them. Oh, how I scoffed. They were right though.
If we are not playing with him, my wife is feeding him, I’m making the dinner (lovely spanish tortilla omelette with salad last night if anyone is interested) or trying to catch up on a bit kip. Now he’s 4 months old he’s sticking anything into his mouth as well which is usually ok unless he’s sitting too near the remote control etc etc. He’s even sprouted a couple of teeth on the bottom half of his mouth.
So, my apologies for the lack of updates. Even my last update was really just a mini rant. In an attempt to try and keep the content flowing, I installed a plugin to display my twitter posts. It looked shite though and I hauled it out. I’m sure I’ll find another plugin which looks much better though. I’m so busy at the moment that I don’t have the time or inclination to rip code apart and tinker with stylesheets. If it doesn’t look good straight out of the box then it gets jettisoned. I’m a true product of the internet generation. All impatience and no effort.
Work should be a bit easier this week. I have a bit of time between projects which should allow me to catch up on a few odds and ends. I’m suffering from some kind of chest infection/cold at the minute and it’s slowed me down no end. Hopefully I can clear it before I present a course in Leeds on Thursday or I can see Friday being a day of hoarseness. I guess 2 hours at the football on Saturday didn’t help any of our colds (all three of us went along). Viva la Spartans though. 4-0 wins away from home are always welcome, especially after an awful first half performance from the boys in white. 12 points clear at the top of the premier league now albeit having played a good few more games than the nearest rivals. It’s all a psychological advantage though.
In other news, I’ve developed an unhealthy addiction to mushroom cup-a-soup (with or without croutons) and Last FM.
I’m going to try and post every day this week (bar Thursday) so better go just now before I use up all my best material……
What a lot of shite
January 24th, 2008I can’t believe they’ve banned the 3 little pigs because it might offend muslims. Fuck me. I am speechless.
