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October 2nd, 2007
07:55 am - Sept - So long and thanks for all the fish
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Top Scottish rally driver and World Rally champion Colin McRae died today in a helicopter accident - a shock to those of us who have seen him in action and witnessed his remarkable career. Colin was only a year old than me and I shall miss his rare and fearless approach to the sport he loved.
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Abbey National have managed to screw up the simple operation of renewing my current account card, the result has been two cards sent to me that I cannot use and three phonecalls to their callcentre where a variety of people (with a variety of English language skills) managed to blame all their inadequacies on the faceless automaton that is the computer or the recent flood or upon a cat covered in wet paint.
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Went for an eyetest and my eyes have actually got better! Have ordered some new specs which will make all the ladies swoon. Or laugh.
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Vic is back from her two months away locumming at Exeter. On Sunday I went to London to see some mates and had a great time taking the mick out of the 'art' at the Tate and having a chinese in Soho. (not a euphamism).
So long and thanks for all the fish
Long version: I find that my life consists of very little to write about given I have become another working slave to the system. A govermental number. My hobbies and interests are honestly my business and I don't expect anyone to understand or care, so there seems very little to write about as on the spur humour does not translate well into the written word some 12 hours later. I cope with my own problems without the need to nash my teeth in public - but that's just me. I tend to keep thing bottled up which, although supposedly is a bad thing, it works for me. Everyone is different and some people feel the need to communicate with others almost every facet of their life. I don't, so I'm stopping this account. If friends want to know what I'm up to they can send me an email as it is less effort than writing a letter or expecting me to spill my inner self on to the web for million to see and ignore. I am not a book for others to satisfy their curiosity.
Mmm, am I been negative now?
Short version: Very little to write and no-one really will be bothered by the loss.
I'm pulling up roots and settling in at Facebook. Thanks for reading my crap.
Dave
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September 12th, 2007
07:23 pm - CRX write up.
Night 0 - Thurs August 30th
Calais
Left Eastleigh just after midday and sped for the Eurotunnel. Saw one or two cars on the way. Eurotunnel was quick and things were helped along by the use of my satnav which was christened 'Morag' - an invaluable tool for the whole trip! Found our hotel and dumped our stuff. Drove to the Holiday Inn hotel near the ferry port of Calais where we met up with friends and familiar faces, signed paperwork for the event, collected t-shirts and then went, as a small group of friends, for an excellent meal and drinks in one of the open air restaurants.
Day 1 - Fri August 31st
Calais - Interlaken (Switzerland)
We started from the car park near the previous nights signing in hotel. Todays driving was the longest, about 530 miles, we arrived in the typically clean Swiss town of Interlaken around 18.00hrs. It has a railway station near its centre and has shops full of souvenirs and a heavy slant towards Swiss penknives at quite a few shops - I wonder why?! We stayed in a hotel near the centre and walked through town to the most incongruious of meeting points - a 'Hooters' restaurant. We ordered food and just as we'd finished, our friends then turned up, they went to find food whilst we walked back to hotel to get a good nights sleep after such a long day.
Day 2 - Sat September 1st
Interlarken to Bormio (Italy).
After a wander into Interlarken so I could get pictures and we could obtain food for the day, we headed for the car park were the rally was due to kick off - due to poor communication we passed the carpark and found ourselves heading out of town, a quick turn around found us seeing other bangers heading the way we had just gone! We traced the banger back to their source which was the starting point for that morning. Collectong our challenge pack we headed off out of town and stopped to get some fuel. The route was then Meiringen, Grimsel Pass, Simplon Pass, Como, Lecco and then into Bormio.
Bormio is pretty town with cobbled pedestrian areas. The hotel was lovely and the whole place had a clean feel to it, even the air was a pleasure to breath! We walked into town and had a pizza and a beer. Failed to meet up with Nikos and co as they had arrived, checked in, and then headed for a few runs up and down Stelvio! After a few mis-communications we wandered back to the hotel and stopped off to have an ice-cream late in the evening. Back to the hotel I flopped into bed and fell asleep quickly, which is unusual for me.
Day 3 - Sun September 2
Bormio - Salzberg (Austria)
Pirates! Gathered in a cobbled area and we were all sent off in a parade through the town before heading straight up the infamous Stelvio pass, from there we headed to Merano and turned off to tackle the Jaufen Pass which is far more challenging than Stelvio in terms of road condition and length. We then hit the Motorways to Innsbruck, Rosenheim and into Salzberg.
Taxi from Hotel with Nikos, Jax, Morgan to the evening meeting point then walked to a nearby underground bar where we had food with other CRX'ers. We left and found a floating boat bar (Salzach Bar) on river where we drank and chatted the night away. Had cheese in hotdogs and took taxi's back to hotel. Sat up with Jax talking to Stu, Morgan.
Day 4 - Mon September 3
Salzberg - Prague (Czech Republic)
Not feeling too well this day due to the food of previous days catching up on me - the lactase pills can only cope with so much - slept in back of car for most of the motorway journey. Informal start and route for today, so headed for Linz and then Northwards into the Czech Republic. Unfortunately 'Morag' had no map of the Czech Republic so were were now relying upon printed maps and guesswork! Managed to get across border despite seeing many teams being turned around. Went round and round Prague until we got our bearings and then managed to find the hotel. Met up with others at the George & Dragon bar/pub in the centre of Prague. Food was eaten, awards made and we drifted off in a small group to a backstreet bar that was authentically Mexican themed. Surprisingly the night ended early as Nikos, Morgan, Charlie and Jax all had an early start in the morning for the airport. Hugged and shook hands with our mates and waved them goodbye as they went off in a taxi. Stu, Alan and I also decided to call it a night and took a taxi back to the hotel, rather than use the antiquated(?) tram system that we took earlier from outside our hotel into town. The trams aren't that bad, but have that overall shabbiness or is it dullness that the Czech Republic seems to suffer from, although the centre of old Prague has some truely lovely buildings and architecture. the taxi back was a vintage Mercedes that had many warning sybols lit on the dashboard, an alarming lack of rear suspension but a nice taxi driver who knew where he was going.
Tues/Wed September 4/5
All over now. Hit the motorways and headed for Calais. Although it was possible to do it in one ten hour marathon we had chosen to take two days and I drove to Koln (via Plzen, Nurnberg, Wurzberg and Frankfrurt) where we located a hotel. Went out for a meal (we christened the day Gay Tuesday for reasons that were purely purile) and then back to bed.
Following morning we hit the motorways again, and travelled through both the Netherlands (Aachen) and Brussels (Gent), drove to the Northern coast and along to Calais.
We hungaround at the Eurotunnel as our train was cancelled, reinstated and then went technical! Eventually we boarded and found ourselves back in the UK and having to drive on the left-handside of the road, where everything seemed slow and haphazard! The journey back seem to speed by and soon we where back in Eastleigh. Alan packed up his car and headed back to Scotland and later I took Stuart to the airport so he could fly back to Guernsey. I returned home to an empty house and a bunch of digital pictures to download to remind me of an excellent, emotional and sometimes stressful seven days in Europe!
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11:10 am - August
1st
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3rd
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4th
Had a relaxing day with Vic. Watched some TV, working in th egarden and washed the car and generally took it easy.
5th
Had breakfast in bed and took Vic to the station so she could catch her train back down to Exeter. After her train had left I went to Romsey Signal Box which had an open day. It was nice to meet ex-signalmen and have a go on their frame. (Not a euphemism)
6th
Realised I had forgotten Nekofairy666's birthday! Sorry!
10th
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Then got ready for my trip to Prague.
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August 1st, 2007
09:18 am - July: ...then you've asked for death by my hand, Hang Wong's son
4th
Worked on the cavalier reading it for the cross europe charity drive.
7th
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11th
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Sat Nav has died.
Camera is faulty.
What did I do? Suppose my lifesize model of the Hindenberg is going to explode next...
14th
Spent the day with parents and wife at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust in Barnes looking at wetlands and some birds...*fill in generic sexist comment here*. The weather was lovely and the place was very interesting and well presented. Surprising to find a wildlife haven such as this in the suburbs of London.
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18th
Sat Nav came back from Navman with a note to say they could find nothing wrong with it - mysteriously it now works...!
21st
Went to Japanex at Excel in London today. Met many friends (raggedy_man, nekofairy666, iNick,Nayyar and Em) and had a good time nosing around the stalls, which were decidedly more anime/manga than about Japan, but hey it's better than a kick in the aphids. Took some brochures from travel companies just in case I can actually afford to go to Japan again!
21st
Between showery bouts I did some garden work and put up a gutter for the shed, not as straight forwards as it sounds. I now need a water butt to collect the water - and boy, do we have a lot of water! Not as bad as those poor people and their flooded homes mind you.
24st
Vic has left her charity to go back into clinical work. This means we now have to be careful to balance money with a mortgage to think about. As she will be doing locum work she will have to spent weeks away at different departments, but it's what she wants and I'll support her for that choice.
Put car in for annual service - that's another chunk of my bonus gone! Cavalier sits in the garage still waiting to be painted - where are you dry weather??
28th
Went to Reading to collect Vic's rail tickets for tommorrow. Finished spraying main colours on the car.
29th
Vicki departed for Exeter where she'll be locuming for the next three weeks - she will pop home for weekends, but it's going to quiet around here. Masked up tribal design for car.
30th
The sun came out! Painted the tribal design on the car.
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31st
Still sunny, found cavalier had dead battery - now on recharge.
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Stuff
Eminem and Benny Hill - if you haven't heard this, do.
http://pressrandom.com/tracks/Eminem%20-%20Without%20Me%20(Benny%20Hill%20Mix).mp3
Manics
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July 2nd, 2007
08:47 am - June - Off the Voigt-Kampf scale
2nd
Guy turned up with the shed and we man-handled it into the garden, now all I have to do is build it!
Mowed the front lawn and did this and that in the rear.
3rd
Another nice sunny day. I creosoted parts of the shed and then we went out for a nice long walk round Itchen Country Park - unfortunately after an hour or so my hayfever started and I became all sniffy. Time seemed slow today which was nice and I actually enjoyed the day apart from the morning when I managed to knock orange juice all over the bed…no lie-in for me then!
5th
After work I prepared and laid 6 paving slab as foundation for the shed. Time for a quick shower and a spot of food before heading off to the Manic Street Preacher concert in Southampton. The concert was excellent and completely packed! The guys ripped through a solid 90 minutes of classic tracks including Motorcycle Emptiness, From despair to where, La Tristesse Durera, Faster, Everything must go, A design for life, If you tolerate…, You stole the sun from my heart and a few from the latest album. I enjoyed myself immensely although the couple in front of me where intent on talking to each other constantly and the two next to me were looking at baby pictures on their mobile - strange way to spend a concert. When I first arrived my back was put up by the nazi like security bouncers who wouldn't let me in with my UNOPENED bottle of water, they refused point blank to listen to any arguement so I throw my bottle down near an overflowing bin of plastic water bottles (others clearly had the same problem), as I went in I turned around to see one of the security hitlers retrieve my water and put it in a box they had to one side - the bastards were only keeping it for themselves! Fucking bastards - as you can tell I'm utterly annoyed by this pettiness, it's all done to make sure the venue bleeds us of our money. I'm on a very tight budget this month and I utterly resent paying £1.60 for a bottle of water when mine cost me 59p. Of course, in hindsight I should have opened the bottle and poured it onto the ground in front of them to make a point, but I didn't...wish I'd spiked it with salt or white spirits. Nevertheless I had a good time.
7th
At last, I build my shed. Single-handedly mind you - not an easy thing to do, but I managed it. I have to felt the roof but other than that it's done.
9th
Felted the roof of the shed and then set about emptying out the garage and filled the shed with various amounts of stuff. Now I have space in the garage to put the cavalier in, which I fully intend to start pulling apart in a bid to sort some of the minor niggles and maintance that needs doing before CzechWrecks in August.
10th
Local youth group, Urban Regen, organised a graffiti meet and I was given space on the prime wall. I went down early and got on really well. Lots of older writers showed up later and we had a good chat, meet some of the newer writers and generally had a good time in the blazing sun. I did a repeat of the character I did in Birmingham with the letters B and N either side. Despite starting at 8 I left near one o'clock! Nipped down the following day to get pictures of everyone's work.
15th
Went to London after work to go and see 'Hound of the Baskervilles' at the Duchess theatre. It was a comic take on the Sherlock Holmes story played out by only three guys. There were plenty of visual gags, running about, costume changes and plenty of funny moments. It was really nice to go out for an evening and it enabled me to see the mysterious metal men that have popped up all around the Festival Hall area.
These belong to the Southbank's Hayward exhibition exhibition's project called Event Horizon. 31 life-size, iron casts of Antony Gromley ( Angel of the North sculptor) body stand upright on rooftops and walkways, dotting the city's skyline and staring out at the inhabitants.
"like melancholy aliens surveying a failed invasion. The presence of these metal men is made even more chilling when seen from the gallery's elevated viewing terraces. All the figures gaze in at these platforms, once again turning the exhibition's viewers into a key part of the artistic process."
16th/17th
Whiled away the weekend working on the cavalier, driving about and going for a nice walk along by the River Itchen to St Denys.
18th
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Partially reassembled the Cavalier, have to do the fluid change next, then put it back on the ground, run to temperature and tackle the other list of niggling jobs! Have got the paint for the paintjob, this will be a tribal design with a character on the bonnet.
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Went for an evening ride at the Mid-Hants railway, I had one of the 'lucky' tickets so I got to ride on the footplate of the steam loco between stations!
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Went to Guernsey for the weekend. Saw the dentist today, luckily no work required! Spent the day trolling about the island visiting people, ect. In the evening met a couple of old mates at a pub and had an evening filled with beer and laughter. Good stuff.
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The rain continued and I headed for the west coast to watch the time trials at Vazon. Andy Priaulx was going to do a quarter of a mile in a minibus at 15,00 but it such a horribly wet day I didn't wait, I'd spent most of the time in the car avoiding the heavy rain. Managed to get a few shots of the cars but called it a day after 5 minutes.
Stuff
Japanese pimp their rides - xbox style!
http://www.duggmirror.com/xbox_360/FORZA_2_Amazing_User_Custom_Paint_Jobs/
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June 1st, 2007
07:54 am - May or One stop short of Stratford.
3rd
Took the cavalier for it's MOT and it failed on three things - all minor: handbrake cable frayed, centre exhaust rubber hanger missing and rear reg plate bulb blown. I booked it straight in for the retest and replaced the bulb when I got home. I stopped off at the petrol station to fill up and accidentally deadlocked the car - I was warned not to by the previous owner as the barrel is alittle worn. Sure enough when I came out from paying the door wouln't open. I climbed throught the boot and tried to start the car but only managed to set the alarm off! I climbed out and was wondering what to do (as there was now quite a number of vehicles waiting for petrol - half the pumps were out of action) when the lady behind me decided I needed help and roped in a chap from a van and they pushed me out of the way whilst I steered. I rang the AA and they arrived about 20 mins later! On showing the patroman my problem, the door unlocked perfectly making me look like a right pleb. He tried and it got stuck! Ha! So we practiced locking and unlocking before workin gout if you deadlock the car don't take the key out - it seems to dislike being removed from that position and reinserted.
Ah well, the foibles of a £100 car!
4th
Alan (S2N Ghostbusters) drove down from Aberdeen to stay for the weekend as we are go-karting together tommorrow.
5th
Alan and I drove to Sandown to the Daytona outdoor karting circuit and met up with Jackie and many others for the Street Safari go-kart social. As we had already sorted the teams all we had to do was book in, get suited up and get out there! We had a few practice laps each before the 90min race. As was only three of us in our team so we had 30 mins each worth of racing, but it went very quickly - especially when your catching other racers and trying to get good racing lines to make your drive as smooth as possible. Eventually it was all over and after a short trophy ceremony, Alan, Jackie and me decided it was high time to get some lunch at 3pm! We followed Rob and Amy to their hotel and then we all went in a convoy to Kingston-Upon-Thames. After leaving the car in a multi-storey, we walked along the river and found a nice bar/restaurant and had a good feed! We then basked in the late afternoon sun. Later we drove back to a bar in Tolworth where all the Street Safari people were meeting for a drink and a chat.
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15th
Took the Cavalier for the MOT re-test and of course she passed as they did the two remaining things that caused her to fail in the first place. So that's the cav all 'mechanical sound' for the rally at the end of August. Prague awaits!
17th
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20th
Spent the morning in bed and then went to a MIGweb meeting with the cavalier that got more attention than the guy who turned up in a new VXR - hahaha!
22nd
The second great depression
I've had the latest Manic Street Preachers album on my ipod for the last few days and have listened to it constantly. I have to agree with the music press that this is a brilliant album which harks back to the 'Everything must go' era. Once again, delve into the lyrics to find references to their fans (Underdogs), Iraq (Rendition), alcoholism (the albums title 'Send away the tigers' was a phrase used by Tony Hancock refering to his reason for drink) and loss of Richey Edwards.
Plenty of guitar action, some rock and roll riffs including a stripped down riff from Sweet Child of Mine. 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough' is a pop-esque duet with Nina Persson of The Cardigans and James Dean Bradfield.
Every song is excellent and although I generally don't like to agree with the music press (they lambasted 'Lifeblood' which I enjoyed - even the Manics said it was self-destructive) they do acknowledge that this truely is a great Manics album with some fantastic tracks like 'Indian summer' & 'Second great depression'. I'm really looking forwards to their concert in Southampton in July.
Welcome back lads, we missed you.
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Drove to Shaftsbury to collect a flatpack storage shed ony to discover the pieces were not as small as I envisaged - no way was I going to get a whole back panel of a shed into the car, so I left sans shed and the thought of more cost for delivery. The main concern of mine at the time was the cavalier, for its temperature gauge had gone up to 100 and the fan hadn't started - popping the bonnet I had a quick fiddle and found that the sensor wire must be broken internally as when wiggled it started the fan - another thing on the list of things to do!
Mowed the back lawns as they we growing tall again, weeded the front boarder and generally pottered in the garden.
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May 2nd, 2007
01:49 pm - April
1st
Went to Wimbledon with Vic and some guys to watch the National Banger Figure 8 World Final, 2.0 Stock Cars & Historic Formula 1's & 2's. There was some very good racing and one accident which took ages to get the driver out and taken to hospital. St John's do a good job, but there were so many around the car it was as if they were using it as a live training session. Compared to Guernsey St. Johns that ARE the ambulance service over there, these guys were slow. In Guernsey when we had a car roll, the paramedics went straight there, assessed the situation, extracted driver and packed him into the ambulance and off they went. At Wimbledon they seem to ultra cautious about everything - as Vic said if they were the real ambulance service people would be up in arms about the time it was taking to actually get on with it. But I realise that I wasn't on the scene or knew every single detail so I have to grant them the benefit of the doubt…however slim.
The figure of eight was great fun, lots of spinning cars and some good crashes. Cars were a mix of old Granadas, cavaliers, cortinas, Rover P5's and the odd Japanese bit of tin. The Historics were lovely, 2 V6 powered super stock looking cars had so much power they had trouble keeping it inline down the short straights, the others were Ford Pops (and similar ilk) all well maintained and painted. These cars are not bangers but they are very closely raced and provide some excellent racing.
I took a few photo's of the night:
http://dave2869.picturebook.org.uk/c1246398.html
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2nd
Lovely and sunny, so I got out the strimmer and tidied up the garden, Vic had done all the hard work on Saturday by mowing the long grass! Did an A1 sized scientific poster for the NDCS which took a fair while, think I finally sent it to them at 23.00! So that's another tick to put on my CV - scientific posters.
6th
Good Friday and I set off to the first major event in any custom car enthusiasts calendar: the Surrey Street Rodders Wheels Day in Aldershot. I got as far as Farnham and hit a queue which continued for an hour until I gave up and tried a different way into Aldershot - that too was solid. I left Aldershot via the town which had traffic queued back as far as the Black Water relief road, at leat they're were few cars going away from town like me, so I managed to cruise slowly past the long line of cars and custom cars looking resplendant in the sun! Headed back on the M3 but it soon became apparent that the M3 on a Bank Holiday was a bad choice, I escaped at Basingstoke and using my local knowledge hit the back roads until I got home.
7th
Went out food shopping and over lunch we decided to go to a Craft Faire at Somerley House, well within the grounds of the house. Some interesting things - food, leatherwork, pictures, jewellery and lots of gardening related things.
On the way out saw a pair of Lapwings by a pond.
Watched Doctor Who on TV and I thought it was brilliant. Great wordplay and some great acting.
Vicki's birthday tomorrow so we could end up going anywhere as she wanted to go and see the coast!
8th
Vic's birthday. Drove to Warsash and had a lovely walk along by the ecstury that feeds into the Solent. Had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the sun until it was time to go home and have a roast chicken evening meal.
9th
Sorted out some things in the garage.
10th
Went to Newlands Corner for a pre-arranged meet with Mum and Dad. Both were well and chatted away as all four of us went for a circular walk. Afterwards we had a cup of tea at the cafe over the road - prior to the walk me and Vic had some chips from the Newlands Cafe! I promised Dad I would remove my stuff that's still in their house!
11thw
Father-in-law dropped us off at the airport and we flew to Dublin with little fuss. We then endured a taxi ride to our hotel whilst listening to an amusing Irish morning radio programme.
We got our room and then walked to the Royal College of Surgeons in St George's Green to find the hall where Vic would be setting up her information stand and attending the lectures.
We got food froma nearby food court and decide to do a bus tour which was very interesting. After completing the tour we stopped off at M&S to get some food and headed back to the hotel for a kip. We woke and wen to the hotels bar for evening meal. I had lasagne and Vic ordered a jacket potato. The waiter then came back to the table saying they had no potatoes. As Vic said - perhaps they had another potato famine. Afterwards we walked back to the College and set up the stand as it had now arrived by courier.
Pics of Dublin here:
http://dave2869.picturebook.org.uk/c1256347.html
12th
Walked to Heuston and then into town. Examined the area around Connolly station looking for a street where my ancestors once lived. I failed to find it but did find the docks and a sailing boat which looked rather magnificent with all it's rigging. I watched firemen in a rib hurtle up and down the Liffey obviously on some kind of training exercise. I walked back to the hotel to rest my aching feet. Later I went out to meet Vic and we went to Milano, a pizza place.
13th
I walked to Four Courts and took the tram to Heuston. Bought a breakfast sandwich and sat in an empty park and ate it whilst being eyed up by a half sleeping duck.
Took a tram to Conolly and then a DART to Booterstown to look for a house my great-great grandmother once lived in.
Took the train back to Conolly and walked back to the hotel to rest my aching feet. Later I went out to meet Vic and we went to an italian restaurant.
Dubliners seem to be obsessed by smoking. Everywhere I went there were people giving themselves cancer by desperately having a drag between work, shops or pubs. Perhaps the ban on smoking indoors makes it more apparent, but back in the UK I haven't noticed the same number of youths sucking away on tabacco like they're lives depending on it. And apart from pubs, most UK indoor areas are non-smoking anyway, so out in the street I'd expect to see people scattered about smoking, but they aren't - yet in Dublin it is really obvious.
So 'Life on Mars' has finished, forget about all the possible explanations - is he dead, in a coma or is Gene Hunt actually an alien? - the series on the whole was excellent. Sure, the perfectionists will point out that the Austin Allegro panda cars weren't around then or the accuracy of the clothing, but the music, the feel, the ambience and attention detail made the series feel right. Gene Hunt's un-PC banter is brilliant and should remind us that we live in a world were people tip-toe around each other with overt carefulness and fancy language as if offending someone by telling them as it is (telling the truth) seems to be a no-no nowadays. Perhaps it's my age but I prefer to call a spade a spade, not a universal impliment for horticultral purposes. If I think you're driving like a t**t I will say so, if your overweight I will also say so, etc, etc until I lose all my friends and am shunned by society as a whole (every lager-swilling-obese-image-obsessed one of them).
But even I don't have much truck for racism and sexism of the 70s. Does my attitude make me a dinosaur? or an individual with a healthy knowledge of where I fit in the grand scheme of things - comfortable in my skin - or a cantankerous old bastard? To be honest, do I really care...
14th
Visited Christ Church cathedral in the morning and then took a taxi to the airport for our afternoon flight. The flight was uneventful and I managed to read quite alot of my book. Watched Doctor Who.
15th
Working in the garden and took photos.
16th
Ran myself into the ground playing football for an hour with only three men versus four - guess which side muggings was on?!!
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19th
Went to Guernsey for work, met new Marketing Director.
20th
Went go-karting to get abit of practice in. The track had been cleaned up so it was very slippery and I was on cold tyres too. I spun twice - very embarassing, but not suprising. Luckily there was only me on the track and both times the marshalls just let me turn myself around. I have booked another session next Friday too.
21th
With the nice weather I have been inspired to work in the garden. I spent most of the morning out there hacking back plants, creating paths and sorting out the large pile of bricks and roofing slates the previous owner left us. I then moved on to sorting out some book that had been piled up in the garage and sorted out my coin collection.
Vic and I walked into town to our favourite restaurant - Chinese - and had a meal. It wasn't quite up to the standard I had expected, but edible anyway. We walked back in the warm evening and watched CSI on TV.
22th
Had a lie-in on the morning and spent the rest of the day doing this and that. Watched touring cars on TV.
23th
Boris Yelsin died.
27th
At lunchtime I went go-karting again. Raced against two others - clearly father/son - the son was a teen an therefore lighter than me, this meant that I couldn't catch him as easily as I can do with heavier/less experienced karters. The first session I easily caught them both but in the second session it took me a long time to nibble away at the sons lead - I ran out of time to completely catch him. In the end he was faster by 300th of a second, so I'm not too worried! I was still a whole 2 seconds off my personal lap record of 25.06secs - the course is still as slippery as ice since they cleaned it.
Nekofairy & raggedy_man goes to Japan today - I hope they have a fab time! I really want to go back, but I say that every year and it's been seven years since I last went! Ce la vie
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28th
Second part of Doctor Who and it was excellent. All the work that went into recreating a 1920's New York was amazing. Of course CGI took a huge part, but all the work by the set dressers, wardrobe, lighting and green screen work was amazing! Plus it had daleks!
I really like Christina Aguilera latest song, Candyman. Not least because the video is excellent and she wears some very interesting costumes - nice sailor outfit! It's all very 40's taking in the Andrew Sisters, Glen Miller, diners, pin up girls style, USA airforce men, etc. It has a very Glen Miller-ish feel to it and I've always liked his music. It doesn't harm that she looks good either ;)
Stuff
Excellent simple hand draw music animation - very effective and fun.
http://www.thedirectorsbureau.com/media/archive/GM_GoldenCage.mov
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March 15th, 2007
12:43 pm - March
1st
330
5th
Poor wifey is ill, but stubbornly insists on struggling on! My protests fall on deaf ears. She is juggling quite alot at work at the moment - office politics.
6th - Woofin'!
Booked up for a Race Car Experience at Thruxton race circuit for July 13th. I did this in 2005 and really enjoyed it, so I'm doing it again! Went round to my brother's with two of our mates for a lads night in, which basically involves us nattering like old women and moaning about shiftwork and how nothing gets done and that we should met up more often. Who said life over 30 is boring? I mean, I have the joys of creosoting the fence this summer.
9th
I am supposed to go up to Birmingham with an old graffiti mate from Isle of Wight today to spray a well known set of walls in Selly Oak. But I have this feeling - I'm not sure whether its apathy, uncertainty or advance acceptance that it's not going to be as exciting as I though it might - I can't put my finger on it but I feel something lurking like a small grey cloud at the front of my mind. Perhaps it's because I am not 100% in control of the event, I know nothing about where we are staying or whether it's safe to leave the car there, etc. Perhaps I just like to worry and can't go with the flow anymore, who knows. We'll see.
10th - Man cleaning his bollards in public view
Went painting in Brum. Me and Toxic hit Selly Oak about 8.30 ish and finished about 3. Doze joined us later. We were hanging out with him and the lads from the The Bench as Doze was leaving on Monday to live in Australia.
After several hours of hassle free painting and an old TIC member turning up, we found a gang of shifty teenage wasters (scallies at Doze called them) hanging about asking stupid questions so we moved our paint right next to where we were painting. One particular little skinny shite who can't have been more than fifteen was swaggering about talking like he was black and generally being a fuckwit. Toxic and I were so close to lamping him and giving him a good kicking in front of his mate just to shut him and them up, but Doze intervened and told him where to get off and he sloped away slowly and they moved to the otherside of the park. We called it a day as we thought the atmosphere was now very uncool. We grabbed a pizza.
Next day we were to paint at a huge wall that can be seen from the M6 (Junc 10). To get there you have to park your car up at a hotel and walk down the motorway until you come to a bit of bank, scramble down and climb through a fence and into this vast area that used to have factories - only the wall remained. We got there early, about 8am but once Toxic saw he'd have to walk 1000 yards down the motorway carrying spraycans he had a change of mind, so we headed back to Southampton and did a piece at Swaythling instead.
Hopefully all the TIC members will meet up at Lemington Spa this year to do a piece at their legal walls.
331, 332.
14th
This morning on the radio they palyed a brief snatch of melodic music which my mind snap identified as 'Onedin Line', but it was in fact the title music from 'The adventures of Robinson Crusoe'. This brought back memories of sunny summer Saturday mornings watching this and 'The Flashing Blade' and 'Champion the Wonderhorse'. No computers or games consoles for us kids in the 70's. Here's some blurb and the music is definately haunting - but in a nice way. Jumpers for goalposts, etc
"This had a haunting theme tune and enchanting musical score which was part of a 13 part black and white dramatization syndicated in the U.S.A. in 1964 and first screened in Britain on BBC TV in 1965. It was repeated in the 1970's.
This cosmopolitan production was made in 1964. Shot in B&W in the Canary Islands and orginally in French starring handsome Austrian actor Robert Hoffman as Robinson. The series was ultimately dubbed into English, with the narrative spoken by a North American, as the voice of Robinson. "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" was purchased by the BBC and received its first screening in around 1965. Every year onwards until the mid-Seventies, the series was part of a staple TV diet for millions of British schoolkids, throughout the summer holidays."
16/18 - Minami Con
From the Friday until the Sunday I was in Southampton for the Japanese Animation convention, Minami (meaning 'South'). Now in its 13th year, the con showed why it is the best - the venue holds all the event rooms and accomodation in one building thus keeping all participants together giving it a more of a community, almost a homely, feel.
Minami always sells out and many new faces could be seen amongst the seasoned con goers who propped up the bar, lounged in chairs or generally stood around chatting. This year there were many excellent cosplay outfits - some of them quite 'revealling', but all of them had time and attention lavished on them which showed through in the detail.
The masquarade, as expected, was the hightlight of Saturday when it is the only event for a few hours and we were treated to a view of all the cosplayers as they paraded down the 'catwalk' and some even did little sketches. Two groups actually did a dance routines!
The events were varied, 6 rooms were available showing anime, plushy toy sull, turtle racing, Bring & Buy stall, the money draining dealers room, workshops/help for aspiring artist and cosplayers, sushi making demonstations and much more - it was nice to see such variety as some conventions can get a bit staid in their offerings.
I tried my had a the plushy cull which the eager contestant was equipped with a soft ended bow and arrow, the plushy were arrnged on tables at the other end of the room and you simple just get trying to knock one of the buggers over - I failed! Turtle racing was surprisingly good, they consist on matchbox sized electronic turtles whih when pressed on the shell use a random circuit to tell it's legs how fast to move - thus a turtle race can be devised. It soon became obvious that some were slightly better than others but this didn't stop people shouting encouragement!
I met up with various friend and fellow artist from previous conventions and it was great to see them all including Nekofairy666, raggedyman, JVC, Nick, Keds, Laura, iCrew, the sweatdrop guys/gals and met many new people too. It's alway great to see a friendly face and catch up with them all. We went out for meals, drank beer and generally had a damn good laugh.
Laughed until I cried as Nick tried and actually managed to cram one third of a quarter pounder into his mouth to win a bet from JVC - he 'won' a shot of tequila. Keds got his guitar out (oo,er) and strummed a few amusing ditties.
As for actually watching anything, I did manage to watch Stratos, Samurai Gun, Panda Z, She:Ultimate weapon and caught bits of Planetes. Saw live action Akihabara@DEEP which was quite funny in parts.
All in all, a top weekend and I shall definately consider turning up next year!
Pics up at my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/densha_otoko/
19th
Now and again I play the lottery, so it was a nice surprise to come back from the Con on Sunday to discover I'd won £69!
334
20th
Pirates and Chow Yun Fat - it's gonna kick arse...Yaarrr!!
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/atworldsend/pirates3.swf
23rd
335
24th
Vic has gone to Newcastle for a work related weekend, so that means I had the house to myself. I hung a couple of pictures, painted the woodwork in the bathroom, did some gardening, cleared away some tools, emptied the rubbish and painted a radiator. All in all I pottered around doing things as I saw them. Still want to cut the lawn and hedges but it is still too wet for that.
27th
It was sunny today and I saw a Peacock butterfly in the garden. First flutterby of the year.
28th
336
29th
The Holy Grail for all married men - the wife goes away for a few days.
30th
Frantically running around the house like a hot chilli eating cat hunting for my wallet. Checked and double checked the rooms I frequent, the bins, my car, under the bed, in cupboards, even in the laundry basket. I mentally retraced my steps and remember the last time I saw my wallet was Sunday - but alas that doesn't help three days later...I rang the cops to see if it had been handed in, but it hadn't. I rang Sainsbury (where I was last with my wallet) but they couldn't help (in fact they were no help) so I resorted to the manly thing of swearing and punching solid objects - the appeal of that soon vanished.
I texted the wife. Twice. Well, I knew she was driving her Dad up to Blackburn and they would at some point stop for a PNB. As I sat staring into space desperately trying to remember things when Vic rings me - I explain all and demand she inspects the car - JOY! the wallet was hidden under the blanket in the boot! I must have put it there when I was laden with shopping on Sunday. Now a happy bunny. But wait!… I have to wait for Vic to return on Saturday before I can access any cash, oh well, looks like I'll be doing more chores around the house.
STUFF:
Paprika - top notch anime
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/paprika/trailer/
29 year old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is an attractive but modest Japanese research psychotherapist whose work is on the cutting edge of her field. Her alter-ego is a stunning and fearless 18 year old “dream detective,” code named PAPRIKA, who can enter into people’s dreams and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their anxiety or neurosis.
Beat Box Chef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7WNk14Wtcg
Amusing Mitchell and Webb Mac/PC adverts
http://www.apple.com/uk/getamac/ads/
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March 1st, 2007
08:17 am - February 2007
1st 324, 325
2nd 326
3rd 327
4th After last years jaunt across Europe from Calais to Naples in a £100 banger to raise money for charity, I decided soon after to do it again this year, only the destination is Prague. To this end i had to find another banger, after a month or two of dead ends (see Jan's Volvo story) someone on one of my motoring forums offered me their old car and so I jumped at the change when I heard it had Tax and MOT! E-mails and photo's were swapped and eventually Vic and I made our way to Brighton to pick the car up. It is a Vauxhall Cavalier 2.5 V6 - needs some work to bring it up to 'my' standards, but its driveable and has been well maintained. See the car at our website: http://www.speedfreaks.org.gg/index.html
8th The much forecast snow turned instantly to slush this morning.
11th Bangers at Wimbledon - London bangers final. An excellent night full of action, crashes and drama. The cars were mainly Nissan Bluebirds, Primeras and a smattering of Fords. The action was fast and heavy with a number of stoppages but also the first instance I have seen of an ambulance needed in the arena to attent to a injured driver. It seems he was hit as he scrambled out of his disabled car - he was stretchered away and there was no report of his condition. A fair few black flags too and one heated brief fist fight between two drivers after a round had finished!
On the whole a very entertaining night and well worth the money.
13th My Brother has had his car written off as he was driving to work (night shift). A large Jeep Cherokee rammed into the back of him halfway across a roundabout and then gouged up the side of my brothers car as he tried to escape the scene - fortunately my brother got a look at the driver and the registration plate so the Police have been informed. The car recently had thousands of pounds work done on it to replace all rusted panels and received a complete respray - it was destined to be a good weather only car. Thankfully my brother was unhurt. This just increases my deep seated mistrust of other drivers and my dislike for unnecessary four wheel drive vehicles.
15th For no reason what so ever, the name 'Tucktonia' popped into may head. This produced a massive nostalgia trip as I went to Tucktonia twice as a kid and was fascinated. Tucktonia was located in Christchurch and was dedicated to England in minature, complete with Buckingham Palace, moving roadways, railways and boats. A quick look on the net revealled the place was shut down and all the models (except Buck. Palace) were destroyed. Sadly, another part of my childhood gone. I'm amazed that things I knew as a child have slowly been destroyed or over exposed through the glare of the media cashing in on nostalgia. This is why 'Life on Mars' is currently so successful, it taps into a certain age range of adults who remember the 70's as kids or teenagers.
16th Went to book tickets for the Manic Street Preachers at Southampton Guildhall for June 5th and they'd already sold out. Bastards. Have gone searching on t'internet for some…
25th Met my brother at our parents and we all went out for Sunday lunch at White Hart restaurant in Wood Street. Food was slightly upmarket, averagely presented. The meat was fatty and slightly under cooked in my opinion but the banofee pie dessert was excellent :)
26th 328
28th 329
Following on from Nekofairy666's posting: "Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/(little known) facts about yourself"
1) I have DJ'd to a crowd of over 1000 people.
2) I hate the misuse of the English language. I'm typographical nit-picker.
3) The biggest illegal graffiti piece I have done was over 60 foot long and took three nights to do. And got away with it too.
4) I am still [i]ever so slightly [/i]a rail enthusiast.
5) I have driven at over 160 mph.
6) I was there during the Acid warehouse/field rave scene.
7) Survived 750 DC volt shock.
8) Have shot several types of weapon.
9) I am intolerant of lactose and most of civilization.
10) Was a direct cause of the Shuttle exploding in 1986*
*May actually not be true, but as it exploded on my birthday I have always had a nagging doubt…
Which File Extension are You?
Which OS are You?
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January 29th, 2007
08:10 am - January 2007
Went to look at a Volvo as a possible car for my banger drive from Calais to Prague in September. After 2.5 hours worth of driving I got to inspect the car, bodywork was sound but the engine had a head gasket failure so said no and walked away. Have decided not to look at any car more than 40 miles away!
Booked hotel room for Minami-con.
Started to rub down paintwork in bathroom and one of the bedrooms.
Offered a V6 Cavalier for £100. This one is in Suffolk, has Tax and MOT and an attentive owner. This means it won't throw all its valves through the bonnet or doors fall off as soon as I get 100 yards away from the previous owner.
Arranged to go spraying in Feb.
Some people say that the 22nd Jan is the worst day this year - what bollocks. Don't blame your inability to cope with day-to-day life on a random number dreamt up by some university slacker employed by the government.
I had my haircut. Nothing rash, just the usual tidying by a bored stick-like barely coherant teenage girl. Of course when I walked in there was no acknowledgement of my presence, no 'I'll be with you in a minute', they carried on their vacuous conversation so I sat down on an old faux leather sofa that was too low for anyone's good. Here ends the tale, boring and straight forwards with minor gripes - just like me as I hurl towards 38 with less PC and social subtly than I was taught by my long-suffering parents.
For my birthday Vicki had booked for us to go and see the Monty Python based musical,;'Spamalot'. But as the time grew closer she was called away to work that particular weekend in Buxton, so we offered the spare ticket to my friend. He and I went up to London and looked about in shops and then went to the matinee showing. Spamalot was very good, lots of dancing,singing and general humour which is what you'd expect from a show based on the film 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.
The play used key parts from the film to link it all together whilst leaving out some of the other parts like the witch/duck sketch, three headed knight, inspector Endofthefilm etc. But did feature all the bits most people remember like the French castle, the flying cow, the giant wooden rabbit, Tim the Enchanterer, the white rabbit (with sharp pointy teeth), the Knights that say Ni and the democratic peasants.
Of course, being a musical there was lots of singing, but the songs were funny and untaxing on the ears. To my joy (and probaby most of the male audience) the cast included several fit lady dancers all of whom featured in many of the scenes in wonderfully minimal outfits - all done in a tastefully of course... :¬)
Despite being 'in the Gods' we could see most of the action and hear everything including the lead actress who had an excellent voice. All the other characters put in great performances with plenty of energy and timing. I did go along expecting references to other Python sketches but alas they strictly kept their humour to the film and didn't stray away, so true Python fans maybe disappointed if they were expecting an in-joke fest - but this didn't detract from the live music and the throughly enjoyable show which romped along at a cracking pace - the interval came quicker than I expected.
In the end it was an excellent show and I am very grateful for Vicki for booking it - and was disappointed she couldn't attend - oh well, I'd only be too pleased to go and see it again!
Watched 'Top Gear' and saw Richard Hammond's crash - I'm amazed he's alive let alone presenting TV again, truely amazing. It also confirmed my opinions that Jeremy Clarkson is a cock. Once he was entertaining, but now he's just like a petulant child whining, whinging and deliberately trying to be edgy without any idea of what he's doing. Give it up Clarkson, hand the reins over to someone with balls - like Hammond. Besides if I wanted real car insights I'd just have to pick up a copy of EVO magazine where they have real opinons, drive real cars with real accessments and much better photography.
Given that my life throws up little of note, my posting will be monthly. Thank funk for that eh?!
Lord Vader: I'll have the Penne ala arrabiata.
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January 5th, 2007
January 2nd, 2007
December 28th, 2006
08:30 pm - Just a list
Best purchase of 2006: Black and Decker workmate...oh, and a house!
Best thing I did in 2006: Drove from Calais to Italy. Visiting Venice.
Best muscial event: Madness concert.
Best phrases of 2006: 'A pint of Bisto Top', 'Pol Pot close', 'iHitler', 'Hard Gay Fuuu'.
Best Insult: "You tardis".
Lucky illness: Pleurisy.
Interesting noise: The sound of a brake calliper bolt falling off and bouncing along the underside of the car at 80mph.
Worst place on Earth 2006: Pintemare, Italy.
Online game: Kingdom Of Loathing.
Most agro-noying thing: British Gas contractors.
People who I hadn't seen for a long time: Wayne & Nigel.
People sadly missed: Peter Gurney & James Brown.
Best TV series: IT crowd, QI.
Best DVD's: Stargate, both flavours.
LOL of 2006: Hard Gay.
Best book: John Peel (semi-autobiographic).
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December 27th, 2006
08:16 am - The horizon leans forward
Vic and I were at her sister's place for Christmas. Drove up on the Saturday and drove back on Boxing Day. On the 24th I went to see a friend who I haven't seen for 6 years, although we still correspond via abusive/comedy emails. I found his house quite easily thanks to a loaned map and he was quite suprised to see me. We spend ages just chatting, trying out his guitars and talking about computers, anime, manga and how the world has gone to dogs.
My sister-in-law made a lovely Christmas dinner and we spent the day slowly and torturiously opening presents - I prefer an orgy of constant paper shreding and delight of finding one new thing after another!
All in all a good Christmas. Now back at work…
Ha ha:
http://www.johnrichie.com/V2/movies/moviePage.php?title=My%20US%20of%20Whateva&width=550&height=400&file=BUSH_FINAL.swf
320
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December 19th, 2006
10:45 am - This is chemists, not a joker shop
This will probably be my last entry before Christmas.
Tonight Vic and I are going to Brighton to see Madness in concert! We booked it ages ago and I've been looking forwards to seeing the Nutty Boys in action - although I suspect they are alittle older and rounder than how I remember them back in my schooldays.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/calm.gif) calm
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December 11th, 2006
03:10 pm - All hail the Ori!
Have just returned from a week long holiday in Corfe Castle in Dorset. The weather was predictably cold, windy and wet, but we went anyway as we had rebooked the self-catering place we had last year. The place is a converted barn which now houses two lovely fully-equipped 'cottages' with DVD player, real fire, comfortable bed and another barn which has a gym, sauna and a swimming pool. Like last year, our abode was the only one of four that was occupied, so we had the run of the place, which was lovely.
We spend our days walking around the area, getting wet/muddy or both depending on the day, but it was good exercise and got us out into the elements and appreciate the beautiful surroundings. We visited Swanage and had a walk to view the rough sea from a cliff top, then had chips in the car watching the rain lash the seafront.
It may of been miserable weather but it was well away from work and the house, so it was a welcome break for both of us. We spent some quality time together and spent the evening watching Red Dwarf on DVD keeping cosy under the duvet!
316-318
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November 30th, 2006
04:29 pm
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...we went to York for a weekend away.
Our weekends normally seem to be cluttered with small jobs that seem to expand to fill the whole two days and we never really feel like we've had a break. So, after going to York on a conference, Vicki booked us a hotel she'd stayed in and it promised to be a good weekend.
Part of the wall surrounding the city of York
We set off early Saturdy morning to cath a train to London, but because of engineering works I devised a route via Portsmouth to avoid having to take two seperate bus rail-link services. That went well and we got to Kings Cross in plenty of time and caught our train. The journey was uneventful and we were glad that we had booked our seats in advance because there were many people looking for places to sit!
Sat at a table on the opposite side of the train was a mother and child, who seemed to be ably employed reading books, doing puzzles that kind of thing. It wasn't until we left the train that Vicki asked if I had heard the question that the little girl had asked her mother. I had not, and apparently as they were reading a story about pigs and how they snuffle in the ground to find food, to the mother horror the girl asked, "Do pigs smell dead people?"!!
This boarders upon genius in my book - what a fantastic question to conjure up - surreal and briliant. Apparently the mother was mortified and was quick to quell this unusual line of questioning - but I had my ipod on an missed the whole event - which is just as well as I would have laughed out loudly at the richness of that obtuse question.
We checked in at the hotel who's staff were having trouble coping with the simple premise of people booking in and out, once we had booked in we were told we could not have a room as they would not be ready until 3. We deposited our bags at the concierge and walked over York railway station bridge to the National Railway Museum. It was a free entry and the place was full of kids and parents having a great time with period costume actors and father Christmas.
It has been many years since I last went to the NRM and it has change quite alot. There were many locomotives, new and old, lots of historical information, displays of royal coaches, examples of a freight train, a post office train and a holiday train. There is even a large hall with a tall ceiling that is stacked with crates full of old models, dustbins, crests, nameplates, books, brochures, models of ships, prototype trains, signalling equipment and much more.
We had some dinner at the restaurant there and surprised to see that we'd spent a little short of four hours wandering about!
A Turner-esque view of the river Ouse
Back at the hotel we obtained our room key and a set of verbal instruction on how to circumnavigate the globe...or was it how to get to our room?...either way it was a voyage. Eventually after going down one floor in a lift, walking half a mile and then climbing one flight of stairs, we found our room. It was disappointing for Vicki as when she last stayed in the hotel her room was lovely and a photo of the room proved it. But this room, although equally expensive, was not the quality she'd expected. It seemed we weren't the only ones displeased with the quality of the rooms or service as when we check out on the Sunday, the queue was lengthy as the bills all had inconsistances and everyone wanted to complain about one thing or another.
After putting our stuff in our room, we called search and rescue to get us through the maze of the building back to the front door, and set off in the failing light into York itself. York is very pretty with many old buildings and the original city walls mostly intact. There were plenty of shoppers, interesting streets and shops still open so we went exploring and found the old castle, an ice rink, an M&S, remains of a huge Christmas market and York Minster, a huge towering gothic sandstone cathedral.
Sunday
After a lengthy lie-in and breakfast in bed we booked out (eventually) and once again left our bags with the concierge and set off into town in the daylight. We decided that we would walk the entire perimeter of old York city using the wall. Despite it's age, the wall is almost complete and wide enough for people to walk along in both directions -although the lack of barrier on one side could mean in interesting trip to A&E. We wandered along looking around at the changing architecture and views.
Finishing our walk near the art gallery, so headed in there as it had a cafe and it was time for lunch! After a good bacon & sausage sandwich, fruit tea and hunk of flapjack we had a quick peruse of the gallery - especially a section I had spied in the Independant's guide out - a small display of Japanese prints and pottery. The only piece of note was a print by Ando Hiroshige, who is my 2nd favourite Japanese woodblock artist, Hokkusai being number one.
We returned to the hotel and collected our bags and went to the train station (which was right opposite the hotel entrance!) and waited for our train. It was very crowded and we were lucky we had seats reserved. Of course someone was sitting in them, but Vicki managed to ably turf them out through a quick mix of argument and logic.
The rest of the journey home was a reverse of what we had done on the Saturday morning, except there was alot of people out for a Sunday evening - surely they don't all hang about railway stations for a good time?
We got to Eastleigh and walked home, arriving eventually sometime about 22.30, and fell into bed.
It was a great weekend exploring and generally nosing around a city of which I knew little about - and of course, actually spending a whole weekend with my wife was a very nice too!
Autumn colours and a blackbird looking for tasty red berries
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November 24th, 2006
12:52 pm - Friends Electric
Whilst sitting on SWT service to Waterloo the other day, staring dispassionately out of the window at the mediocrity that passes for the middle-class corridor to the capital, when I spied the guard heading my direction.
He was doing his duty, namely checking tickets and clipping errant children round the ear, when I noticed he was tall...or was it his coiffured black hair? For a second it amused me to believe he looked like Gary Numan. As he got closer he became more and more like Mr Numan, complete with pierced ear. By now I was transfixed on him and as I showed him my travelcard my eyes fell on his badge and I almost exploded - it read 'Gary Numan'.
True. So very true and yet quite unbelievable. I wish I was quick and got a pic of him.
Current Music: Manson
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November 18th, 2006
07:09 pm - Walkies
"Looking Westwards along the viaduct"
Went for a walk on Saturday and explored Hockley viaduct.
Not opened until 1891 and disused since 1966 it is by far the most impressive of the four railway viaducts in Hampshire.
Hockley Viaduct spans the valley of the River Itchen with 33 arches and was built to carry the Southampton to Didcot line (via Newbury and Winchester). The vagaries of the independant steam railways are far too boring to go into here, but the viaduct only came about because of railway politics.
It's length is 2014ft long and has a height of 40ft which is still fractional higher than the nearby M3 motorway. Given that it is arguably one of the first viaducts to have use concrete in it's construction (the pillars are covered with a layer of brickwork) a Grade II listed status is being sort to ensure that this unique part of railway engineering work does not get ignored after managing to survive for over 100 years depite being overground but walkable.
"Stamped onto one of the stones that cap the edge of the viaduct walls"
On Sunday returned to Hockley to climb St. Catherine's hill. The hill lies to the south of Winchester, close to the notorious Twyford Down, where protestors unsuccessfully tried to stop the M3 motorway cutting through a site of special scientific interest. The iron age hill fort which stood here is among the earliest evidence of human settlement in the Winchester area although no remains are visable today other than a clump of trees at the top.
The weather was a strong wintery sun and it was a pleasant change to get out and about once more. The good light gave me a few photographic opportunities.
"Autumn leaves"
"Rosehip berries"
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November 7th, 2006
08:30 am - Bisto Top
As Gwen Guthrie would sing, 'Ain't nothing going on but the rent'.
It's some what quiet at Eastleigh Mansion, busy workload and the Lady of the manor is working hard too, which involves even more earlier starts to the day.
Oh well, time to return to work and see if the email system has stopped fitting like a electro-shock therapy patient...'Barman! A pint of Bisto Top please'
(exeunt stage right)
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