One of my rare serious moments: Guys and gals - if you have some spare cash, consider helping here...
It really makes all the shit I moan about seem pretty insignificant.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Posts I haven't written yet
It's New Year's Eve. I'm having a party tonight, and have a pile of stuff to do, so don't have time to write as much as I had meant to. Here are some posts that I'll do when I have time. Actual titles may change at the whim of the author. Some posts may never exist.
1. Final list of challenges for 2005
2. What happens when I start drinking coffee again
3. 2004 review
4. Why I hate New Year's Eve
5. There were a load of others. But I've forgotten them.
Worst list ever.
1. Final list of challenges for 2005
2. What happens when I start drinking coffee again
3. 2004 review
4. Why I hate New Year's Eve
5. There were a load of others. But I've forgotten them.
Worst list ever.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
How to make mince pies
With Christmas coming up (in about 360 days) I decided to bake some mince pies like a girl today. I like mince pies. Do you like mince pies? Would you like to make some mince pies like I did today? Here's my recipe for you. With a handy hint at the end.
My Recipe For Mince Pies
What you will need (equipment):
A big mixing bowl
A big knife
A small knife
A teaspoon
A spoon that's the next size up from teaspoon
A fork
*A rolling pin
*A wire cooling rack
A sieve
*A bun tray
*Pastry cutters
Weighing scales
A pastry brush
A mug
*You have to go and buy items marked with a * from the shop the day before because you don't have one.
What you will need (food):
125g of butter (this is half a block)
250g of plain flour
A little bit of cold water
Mincemeat
An egg
Icing Sugar (optional)
Some oil
What to do:
1. Get everything you need.
2. Wash your hands!
3. Weigh out the flour using weighing scales and sieve it into the mixing bowl with your sieve. It's best to check before starting that the jumblees haven't gone to sea in your sieve, as it's the kind of thing that they like to do.
4. Weigh out your butter. If you're lazy, you can just cut your full block in half. It'll be about right unless your judgment is way bad.
5. Cut the butter into little pieces and put them in the bowl with the flour. You can use either the big knife or the little knife, but be careful either way!
6. Using your fingertips, lightly rub the butter into the flour until there are no big lumps left and the mixture is like breadcrumbs.
7. Now be really careful with the next bit or you'll really bugger things up. Add water to the mixture a spoon or two at a time. Mix it in with your fingers. Keep doing this until it all clumps together into a big ball. This should be not too dry and not too sticky: It should be just right. Well done - you've just made a big ball of pastry. Don't eat it yet though, we're not finished!
8. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for a while.
9. Go and do something else for a couple of hours. Clean your bathroom, or maybe do the hoovering.
10. With chores finished, it's time to continue with mince pies. (First, wash your hands again!) Remove pastry from fridge, unwrap it and divide into two halfs. Flour a work surface and roll it out flat with a rolling pin until it's quite thin. Maybe a third of a centimetre.
11. Use the pastry cutters to cut out big and little circles. Make sure you have the same number of each. This recipe should make about 14 of each.
12. Lubricate your bun tray with oil. Sunflower will do.
13. Put a large circle in each hole, and press them down until they fit.
14. Fill each pie with mincemeat.
15. Put a small circle on top of each pie (hopefully they'll fit good!)
16. Put some fork holes in the top of each one.
17. Beat an egg in a mug.
18. Using the pastry brush, wipe beaten egg over the top of each pie, especially at the edges where the big pastry circle meats the little pastry circle.
19. Cook them in a preheated oven at an appropriate temperature and time for the oven you are using. In my fan oven, I did them at around 180 degrees Celsius for just over 25 minutes. That seemed to work.
20. Carefully remove the pies from the oven, and when things have cooled sufficiently, transfer them from the bun tray to the top of the wire cooling rack.
21. When they are cooled, you can sprinkle icing sugar over the top. I don't think I'll do this though.
22. All done!
And that's my fine recipe. Here's a picture of what the finished pies look like:
Don't let the dog eat them!
And here's my handy hint:
Handy Hint for baking mince pies
It seems mincemeat can be hard to find in York after Christmas. I had to try four shops before I found any, and they only had 1.4kg tubs. That was slightly more than I needed, but I didn't have much choice. Thank god for Budgens! So buy minemeat early!
My Recipe For Mince Pies
What you will need (equipment):
A big mixing bowl
A big knife
A small knife
A teaspoon
A spoon that's the next size up from teaspoon
A fork
*A rolling pin
*A wire cooling rack
A sieve
*A bun tray
*Pastry cutters
Weighing scales
A pastry brush
A mug
*You have to go and buy items marked with a * from the shop the day before because you don't have one.
What you will need (food):
125g of butter (this is half a block)
250g of plain flour
A little bit of cold water
Mincemeat
An egg
Icing Sugar (optional)
Some oil
What to do:
1. Get everything you need.
2. Wash your hands!
3. Weigh out the flour using weighing scales and sieve it into the mixing bowl with your sieve. It's best to check before starting that the jumblees haven't gone to sea in your sieve, as it's the kind of thing that they like to do.
4. Weigh out your butter. If you're lazy, you can just cut your full block in half. It'll be about right unless your judgment is way bad.
5. Cut the butter into little pieces and put them in the bowl with the flour. You can use either the big knife or the little knife, but be careful either way!
6. Using your fingertips, lightly rub the butter into the flour until there are no big lumps left and the mixture is like breadcrumbs.
7. Now be really careful with the next bit or you'll really bugger things up. Add water to the mixture a spoon or two at a time. Mix it in with your fingers. Keep doing this until it all clumps together into a big ball. This should be not too dry and not too sticky: It should be just right. Well done - you've just made a big ball of pastry. Don't eat it yet though, we're not finished!
8. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for a while.
9. Go and do something else for a couple of hours. Clean your bathroom, or maybe do the hoovering.
10. With chores finished, it's time to continue with mince pies. (First, wash your hands again!) Remove pastry from fridge, unwrap it and divide into two halfs. Flour a work surface and roll it out flat with a rolling pin until it's quite thin. Maybe a third of a centimetre.
11. Use the pastry cutters to cut out big and little circles. Make sure you have the same number of each. This recipe should make about 14 of each.
12. Lubricate your bun tray with oil. Sunflower will do.
13. Put a large circle in each hole, and press them down until they fit.
14. Fill each pie with mincemeat.
15. Put a small circle on top of each pie (hopefully they'll fit good!)
16. Put some fork holes in the top of each one.
17. Beat an egg in a mug.
18. Using the pastry brush, wipe beaten egg over the top of each pie, especially at the edges where the big pastry circle meats the little pastry circle.
19. Cook them in a preheated oven at an appropriate temperature and time for the oven you are using. In my fan oven, I did them at around 180 degrees Celsius for just over 25 minutes. That seemed to work.
20. Carefully remove the pies from the oven, and when things have cooled sufficiently, transfer them from the bun tray to the top of the wire cooling rack.
21. When they are cooled, you can sprinkle icing sugar over the top. I don't think I'll do this though.
22. All done!
And that's my fine recipe. Here's a picture of what the finished pies look like:
Don't let the dog eat them!
And here's my handy hint:
Handy Hint for baking mince pies
It seems mincemeat can be hard to find in York after Christmas. I had to try four shops before I found any, and they only had 1.4kg tubs. That was slightly more than I needed, but I didn't have much choice. Thank god for Budgens! So buy minemeat early!
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Festive 20, 2004
John Peel used to put together a Festive 50 each year. Even though he has now become dead (but not forgotten), his listeners have still put one together which is being played on Radio 1 this week.
I am not dead, and so I have been able to put together a Festive 20 of my own, on my own, just like last year. And the year before. It was quite hard to choose some of them this year - particularly at the lower end of the list. I had at least another ten songs that I wanted to include, but just didn't have space for.
The rules for eligibility are that they have to have been released as a single or on an album during the past year. Online or offline. And they can't have been included in a previous year's Festive 20.
Here we are, then, in reverse order. You might find it helpful to sing the Top of the Pops music in your head whilst reading.
20. Can't Stand Me now - The Libertines
19. Oxygen - Willy Mason
18. Leaving New York - REM
17. My Declaration - Tom Baxter
16. Mr Brightside - The Killers
15. Worry about the wind - Hal
14. Eve, the apple of my eye - Bell X1
13. Under the city - The Needles
12. Good Reason - Seafood
11. Lost in the plot - The Dears
10. Tonight - Easyworld
9. Freakin' Out - Graham Coxon
8. First of the gang to die - Morrissey
7. Godhopping - Dogs die in hot cars
6. Week in, week out - The Ordinary Boys
5. How did it ever come to this - Easyworld
4. Dry your eyes - The Streets
3. No Other Life is Attractive - Thirteen Senses
2. The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
1. Thru the glass - Thirteen Senses
I'll add here, that this list is probably not definitive. Because of the haphazard way in which I constructed it, there may be omissions and people I've missed that should really be in there. All I can say if that's the case is, Whoops!
I can honestly say that if you'd asked me whether Graham Coxon and Morrissey would be in my end of year list of good songs, I'd have given you a heartfelt "No way!". Makes you wonder who might shine in 2005.
I am not dead, and so I have been able to put together a Festive 20 of my own, on my own, just like last year. And the year before. It was quite hard to choose some of them this year - particularly at the lower end of the list. I had at least another ten songs that I wanted to include, but just didn't have space for.
The rules for eligibility are that they have to have been released as a single or on an album during the past year. Online or offline. And they can't have been included in a previous year's Festive 20.
Here we are, then, in reverse order. You might find it helpful to sing the Top of the Pops music in your head whilst reading.
20. Can't Stand Me now - The Libertines
19. Oxygen - Willy Mason
18. Leaving New York - REM
17. My Declaration - Tom Baxter
16. Mr Brightside - The Killers
15. Worry about the wind - Hal
14. Eve, the apple of my eye - Bell X1
13. Under the city - The Needles
12. Good Reason - Seafood
11. Lost in the plot - The Dears
10. Tonight - Easyworld
9. Freakin' Out - Graham Coxon
8. First of the gang to die - Morrissey
7. Godhopping - Dogs die in hot cars
6. Week in, week out - The Ordinary Boys
5. How did it ever come to this - Easyworld
4. Dry your eyes - The Streets
3. No Other Life is Attractive - Thirteen Senses
2. The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
1. Thru the glass - Thirteen Senses
I'll add here, that this list is probably not definitive. Because of the haphazard way in which I constructed it, there may be omissions and people I've missed that should really be in there. All I can say if that's the case is, Whoops!
I can honestly say that if you'd asked me whether Graham Coxon and Morrissey would be in my end of year list of good songs, I'd have given you a heartfelt "No way!". Makes you wonder who might shine in 2005.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
12 Challenges for 2005
It's easy to get to the end of the year and think... What have I really achieved this year? 2004 has felt like something of a holding year - just marking time. It's not been a bad year, but it's not been lifechanging. I'll make a list soon of my x best achievements of the year. But I'll post it in 2005 since the year is not yet over.
At the end of 2005, I won't be saying that. Because it's time for Challenges! Here are my twelve challenges for the year (in no particular order):
12 challenges for 2005:
1. LIGHT: Buy lightshades for the flat.
2. BED: Obtain a second bed and make the second bedroom into an actual bedroom.
3. DATE: Go on a date with a real girl.
4. COUNTRY: Visit at least one new country.
5. PROMOTE: Get a promotion at work.
6. SKILL: Learn a new skill.
7. RADIO: Have my name read out on UK National Radio.
8. PUB: Have a drink in every pub within the city walls. With photographic Evidence.
9. COOK: Cook a meal for someone I meet for the first time in 2005.
10. SOBER: Have a (consecutive) seven day period with no alcohol.
11. MYSTERY: ???
12. MYSTERY: ???
Numbers 11 and 12 are currently mystery challenges!. They're a mystery because I don't know what they are yet. But one of you possibly does. I'm giving all of you the opportunity to set me a task, preferably one that I'll gain some benefit from, but I'm open to everything. Stick ideas in the comments and I'll choose the best and complete the list. (Also if you think any of the existing ones are rubbish, feel free to propose changes).
Clearly the tasks already there vary in difficulty and scope, but it's nice to have a variety I think. You might think, for example, that Challenge #1: LIGHT, looks quite easy. But it's been over eighteen months since I moved into the flat, and as yet I haven't even looked at shades. And for clarification, Challenge #8: PUB does not require all the pubs to be visited on the same day. And even though there is one challenge for each month of 2005, I don't expect to be tackling a new one each month.
Maybe in the New Year, we can have a competition as to how long it takes me to finish all twelve tasks.
At the end of 2005, I won't be saying that. Because it's time for Challenges! Here are my twelve challenges for the year (in no particular order):
12 challenges for 2005:
1. LIGHT: Buy lightshades for the flat.
2. BED: Obtain a second bed and make the second bedroom into an actual bedroom.
3. DATE: Go on a date with a real girl.
4. COUNTRY: Visit at least one new country.
5. PROMOTE: Get a promotion at work.
6. SKILL: Learn a new skill.
7. RADIO: Have my name read out on UK National Radio.
8. PUB: Have a drink in every pub within the city walls. With photographic Evidence.
9. COOK: Cook a meal for someone I meet for the first time in 2005.
10. SOBER: Have a (consecutive) seven day period with no alcohol.
11. MYSTERY: ???
12. MYSTERY: ???
Numbers 11 and 12 are currently mystery challenges!. They're a mystery because I don't know what they are yet. But one of you possibly does. I'm giving all of you the opportunity to set me a task, preferably one that I'll gain some benefit from, but I'm open to everything. Stick ideas in the comments and I'll choose the best and complete the list. (Also if you think any of the existing ones are rubbish, feel free to propose changes).
Clearly the tasks already there vary in difficulty and scope, but it's nice to have a variety I think. You might think, for example, that Challenge #1: LIGHT, looks quite easy. But it's been over eighteen months since I moved into the flat, and as yet I haven't even looked at shades. And for clarification, Challenge #8: PUB does not require all the pubs to be visited on the same day. And even though there is one challenge for each month of 2005, I don't expect to be tackling a new one each month.
Maybe in the New Year, we can have a competition as to how long it takes me to finish all twelve tasks.
Sock Purge
Since I have received and bought seventeen new pairs of socks over the past week, I thought it might be time to throw away some of the old ones - especially ones with holes, and especially the ones where all five toes poke out.
To this end, I conducted a Sock Purge earlier this afternoon. I pulled all the socks out of my sock drawer and then dumped them on the bed. Each pair (with only a couple of exceptions) then had to justify their right for a continued opportunity to occasionally be on the end of my legs for a day. eg:
Me: Hello socks with blue toes and blue heels. How are you?
Socks: We're fine, Sir. Thanks for asking.
Me: I'm afraid today is a sock purge.
Socks: What's a sock purge?
Me: I ask the questions! Silent, Socks.
Socks: ----
Me: Better. Right. Do you have any holes?
Socks: ... no?
Me: NO?
Socks: ...no ....well ....yes. A little one.
Me: THEN YOU'RE OUTA HERE.
Socks: You mean into the spare sock drawer?
Me: I don't have a spare sock drawer!
Socks: What will happen to us?
Me: You are going to the Great Sock Bin In The Sky!
Socks: That sounds nice.
Me: Yes. I expect it will be. Bye Bye Socks!
Socks: Wheeeeehhhhh!
And then I toss them onto the floor (which is why the Socks went "Wheeeeehhhhh!").
Other socks were rejected for just being old, for having no matching sock, or for just being in the pile of identical looking odd black socks at the back that I couldn't be arsed to pair up. I filled two plastic bags with discarded socks. And on counting up how many I have left, the answer is: Thirty Five Pairs. Enough to get me through any month of the year without washing.
It must be years and years since I last threw any socks away.
Most of the socks that made it through the purge are black with toes and heels a different colour (eg red) to make it easier to make pairs. I like this, as it probably halves the time it takes to sort out my washed washing. The pair I am wearing today also say "Tuesday" on them. In case I forget.
To this end, I conducted a Sock Purge earlier this afternoon. I pulled all the socks out of my sock drawer and then dumped them on the bed. Each pair (with only a couple of exceptions) then had to justify their right for a continued opportunity to occasionally be on the end of my legs for a day. eg:
Me: Hello socks with blue toes and blue heels. How are you?
Socks: We're fine, Sir. Thanks for asking.
Me: I'm afraid today is a sock purge.
Socks: What's a sock purge?
Me: I ask the questions! Silent, Socks.
Socks: ----
Me: Better. Right. Do you have any holes?
Socks: ... no?
Me: NO?
Socks: ...no ....well ....yes. A little one.
Me: THEN YOU'RE OUTA HERE.
Socks: You mean into the spare sock drawer?
Me: I don't have a spare sock drawer!
Socks: What will happen to us?
Me: You are going to the Great Sock Bin In The Sky!
Socks: That sounds nice.
Me: Yes. I expect it will be. Bye Bye Socks!
Socks: Wheeeeehhhhh!
And then I toss them onto the floor (which is why the Socks went "Wheeeeehhhhh!").
Other socks were rejected for just being old, for having no matching sock, or for just being in the pile of identical looking odd black socks at the back that I couldn't be arsed to pair up. I filled two plastic bags with discarded socks. And on counting up how many I have left, the answer is: Thirty Five Pairs. Enough to get me through any month of the year without washing.
It must be years and years since I last threw any socks away.
Most of the socks that made it through the purge are black with toes and heels a different colour (eg red) to make it easier to make pairs. I like this, as it probably halves the time it takes to sort out my washed washing. The pair I am wearing today also say "Tuesday" on them. In case I forget.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Back to the Hills
The hills are smaller than I remember them.
As a child of fourteen, they seemed taller,
Higher and more problematic.
As a child of ten, I'd sledge down them,
In cold snow, on plastic sledges,
Or just plastic bags.
Now the hills just seem like slopes.
No challenge, no exertion.
The distances between places are also
Less than they used to be.
When I was a kid it took me at least ten minutes
To walk to Rich's house.
Today it was just five minutes.
It's as if the whole town has shrunk
Like a heated crisp packet,
And I've stayed the same size.
Bars have also shrunk - I remember
Not being able to see over them to order crisps
Or Coke, or peanuts.
That's not a problem anymore -
I stopped ordering Coke when the hills got small.
As a child of fourteen, they seemed taller,
Higher and more problematic.
As a child of ten, I'd sledge down them,
In cold snow, on plastic sledges,
Or just plastic bags.
Now the hills just seem like slopes.
No challenge, no exertion.
The distances between places are also
Less than they used to be.
When I was a kid it took me at least ten minutes
To walk to Rich's house.
Today it was just five minutes.
It's as if the whole town has shrunk
Like a heated crisp packet,
And I've stayed the same size.
Bars have also shrunk - I remember
Not being able to see over them to order crisps
Or Coke, or peanuts.
That's not a problem anymore -
I stopped ordering Coke when the hills got small.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Whenever There Is Danger he'll be there...
I watched Spiderman 2 for the first time last night. It's not a very Christmassy film, but... well, Spiderman's suit is red like Santa's. And it had an elf in it. Well, a goblin. Ok, just the son of a goblin.
It's, for the most part, quite a sad film. I would have cried several times had I been on my own. Since I was with my parents, I held it back. Poor Peter Parker, just trying to do the right thing, and causing himself nothing but pain in the meantime.
I hadn't expected much from Doctor Octopus, but he was actually rather impressive (Spidey himself was still a little ropey (webby?) in a couple of shots though). He had big tentacles. Hush, I said "tentacles".
Does anybody remember when Spiderman teamed up with The Transformers? I'd like to see that in the third film.
Since proper spiders have eight legs, I'd also like Spiderman to rescue the drowned tentacles, attach them to himself, paint them red and look like an actual eight-limbed spider. And then I'd like him to go and kick the crap out of Megatron. Whilst on the subject - why didn't Optimus Prime just wait until Megatron turned into a gun, and then step on him? Or lock him in the drawer of a Police Captain? Instant Decepticon problem solved, world saved, job's a good 'un.
The film easily makes it into my top three of the year, along with Shaun of the Dead and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Normal people might have a top five films. I only have three due to not watching as many films recently as a normal person would have done.
It's, for the most part, quite a sad film. I would have cried several times had I been on my own. Since I was with my parents, I held it back. Poor Peter Parker, just trying to do the right thing, and causing himself nothing but pain in the meantime.
I hadn't expected much from Doctor Octopus, but he was actually rather impressive (Spidey himself was still a little ropey (webby?) in a couple of shots though). He had big tentacles. Hush, I said "tentacles".
Does anybody remember when Spiderman teamed up with The Transformers? I'd like to see that in the third film.
Since proper spiders have eight legs, I'd also like Spiderman to rescue the drowned tentacles, attach them to himself, paint them red and look like an actual eight-limbed spider. And then I'd like him to go and kick the crap out of Megatron. Whilst on the subject - why didn't Optimus Prime just wait until Megatron turned into a gun, and then step on him? Or lock him in the drawer of a Police Captain? Instant Decepticon problem solved, world saved, job's a good 'un.
The film easily makes it into my top three of the year, along with Shaun of the Dead and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Normal people might have a top five films. I only have three due to not watching as many films recently as a normal person would have done.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
So this is Christmas
Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you are all having a great time.
This year, I'm spending the festive season being inebriated.
It's been a bit of a quiet one today compared to normal, with just four of us for dinner. Dinner was a goose. My goose verdict: tasty.
Last night we were out in a local pub. Sadly it was a place that was slightly too non-local to make it easy to get to, so getting home could have gone very wrong. Luckily, people who were slightly more sober than me somehow arranged for a taxi to come and get us. It was one of those evenings where the photos make you look sillier than you remember being. And I'm sure I wasn't dancing as much as the pictures make out.
Good Presents Received:
An optic.
A mini table tennis table.
A book of poems by Simon Armitage.
10 pairs of socks.
A talking Homer Simpson bottle opener.
Lots of misc others.
It strangely seems that the fewer of us are here for Christmas, the more presents we end up buying.
This year, I'm spending the festive season being inebriated.
It's been a bit of a quiet one today compared to normal, with just four of us for dinner. Dinner was a goose. My goose verdict: tasty.
Last night we were out in a local pub. Sadly it was a place that was slightly too non-local to make it easy to get to, so getting home could have gone very wrong. Luckily, people who were slightly more sober than me somehow arranged for a taxi to come and get us. It was one of those evenings where the photos make you look sillier than you remember being. And I'm sure I wasn't dancing as much as the pictures make out.
Good Presents Received:
An optic.
A mini table tennis table.
A book of poems by Simon Armitage.
10 pairs of socks.
A talking Homer Simpson bottle opener.
Lots of misc others.
It strangely seems that the fewer of us are here for Christmas, the more presents we end up buying.
Friday, December 24, 2004
Nice things
Since it's the time of giving, I've just given my parents two fantastic new things:
1. Firefox.
2. A gmail account each.
I'm like an internet Santa. Time will tell if they actually use them or not. I think they're sold on Firefox... I might delete the IE icon from the desktop just in case :-)
1. Firefox.
2. A gmail account each.
I'm like an internet Santa. Time will tell if they actually use them or not. I think they're sold on Firefox... I might delete the IE icon from the desktop just in case :-)
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Sleepy. Not the Dwarf.
I've got a theory:
Pubs put sleepy drugs into beer at lunchtime.
This is the only sensible reason I can think of why lunchtime drinking makes me so sleepy by mid-afternoon. The only way to avoid the sleepiness is to keep on drinking through the day and into the night - clearly because they start putting anti-sleep drugs in the beer from around three o'clock.
Shouldn't this be an illegal practice? I know that it's wrong for me to slip drugs into the drink of a pretty girl if she's sober and it's lunchtime - shouldn't the same rules apply to pub landlords? How dare they put stuff in my beer!
I would elaborate on this topic further, but I'm too tired.
Pubs put sleepy drugs into beer at lunchtime.
This is the only sensible reason I can think of why lunchtime drinking makes me so sleepy by mid-afternoon. The only way to avoid the sleepiness is to keep on drinking through the day and into the night - clearly because they start putting anti-sleep drugs in the beer from around three o'clock.
Shouldn't this be an illegal practice? I know that it's wrong for me to slip drugs into the drink of a pretty girl if she's sober and it's lunchtime - shouldn't the same rules apply to pub landlords? How dare they put stuff in my beer!
I would elaborate on this topic further, but I'm too tired.
Tragedy Rocks
Finally! After waiting for well over a month, the album I ordered by The Crimea (Tragedy Rocks) has finally arrived. Recap: they are fantastic. End Recap.
Less happilly, when I opened my letterbox, it fell out and landed on my left foot. I was in socks and it hurt. Ow.
Less happilly, when I opened my letterbox, it fell out and landed on my left foot. I was in socks and it hurt. Ow.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
The Sound of Christmas
Christmas songs are great. Not all of them, obviously. I never need or want to hear Mariah Carey again. I don't want her to sing normal songs, and I especially don't want to hear that all she wants for Christmas is Me. That thought just makes me feel ill.
Just so you know, here are my top 5 favourite Christmas songs. It's not really a very exciting list, and it contains few surprises. In reverse order:
5. Just Like Christmas - Low
4. O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Belle and Sebastian
3. I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake
2. Stop the Cavalry - Jona Lewie
1. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
Clearly I'm just trying to look cool with nos 5 and 4 there. In reality they should have been Chris DeBurgh's A Spaceman Came Travelling and East 17's Stay. Not really. Or double bluff?...
I'm always on the lookout for good new Christmas songs. Or good covers of old Christmas songs. Occasionally a whole album comes along at once (eg the XFM It's a Cool, Cool Christmas album from way back in 2000). And sometimes a great song will just turn up all alone, like Badly Drawn Boy's Donna and Blitzen.
Today I found a new album with a whole load of new songs to add to my Christmas jukebox. It's a compilation called Maybe This Christmas Tree and features a fair variety of artists. Some of whom I know (eg Death Cab for Cutie, Lisa Loeb) and some of whom I've never encountered (eg Jars of Clay, Copeland). Some of the songs are covers, some are songs I don't know - either new songs or covers of songs I don't know. And some are better than others.
Highlights? #1 Tom McRae covering Wonderful Christmastime in the style of someone who is having the most miserable holiday of their life. #2 Pilate covering Fairytale of NY. Now, personally, I think this is one song where nobody will ever better the original. However, this is a pretty decent effort, capturing the mood of the song in exactly the way that Ronan Keating didn't. More downbeat than the original, without the tradional Irish musical jaunty background that featured the first time around. It's a great version, and worth tracking down.
I'm sure there must be some other great Christmas albums or songs out there that I might have missed. Anyone got any favourites that I might not have come across?
------------------
Update
I have just found that the new album I have is actually the third in an apparently annual series. It follows Maybe this Christmas and Maybe this Christmas Too. One, Too, Tree. See what they've done there?
Just so you know, here are my top 5 favourite Christmas songs. It's not really a very exciting list, and it contains few surprises. In reverse order:
5. Just Like Christmas - Low
4. O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Belle and Sebastian
3. I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake
2. Stop the Cavalry - Jona Lewie
1. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
Clearly I'm just trying to look cool with nos 5 and 4 there. In reality they should have been Chris DeBurgh's A Spaceman Came Travelling and East 17's Stay. Not really. Or double bluff?...
I'm always on the lookout for good new Christmas songs. Or good covers of old Christmas songs. Occasionally a whole album comes along at once (eg the XFM It's a Cool, Cool Christmas album from way back in 2000). And sometimes a great song will just turn up all alone, like Badly Drawn Boy's Donna and Blitzen.
Today I found a new album with a whole load of new songs to add to my Christmas jukebox. It's a compilation called Maybe This Christmas Tree and features a fair variety of artists. Some of whom I know (eg Death Cab for Cutie, Lisa Loeb) and some of whom I've never encountered (eg Jars of Clay, Copeland). Some of the songs are covers, some are songs I don't know - either new songs or covers of songs I don't know. And some are better than others.
Highlights? #1 Tom McRae covering Wonderful Christmastime in the style of someone who is having the most miserable holiday of their life. #2 Pilate covering Fairytale of NY. Now, personally, I think this is one song where nobody will ever better the original. However, this is a pretty decent effort, capturing the mood of the song in exactly the way that Ronan Keating didn't. More downbeat than the original, without the tradional Irish musical jaunty background that featured the first time around. It's a great version, and worth tracking down.
I'm sure there must be some other great Christmas albums or songs out there that I might have missed. Anyone got any favourites that I might not have come across?
------------------
Update
I have just found that the new album I have is actually the third in an apparently annual series. It follows Maybe this Christmas and Maybe this Christmas Too. One, Too, Tree. See what they've done there?
Monday, December 20, 2004
The course of new gloves never runs smooth...
I need to buy some new gloves since it's getting cold. Maybe not Arctic cold, but cold enough for me to think "Oh boy. It's cold today". Because I think in the style of Sam from Quantum Leap.
----
Quick aside: Do you ever wonder if every morning you have actually leapt, QL style, into a different person? Or is that just me?
----
Anyway, so I need to buy some gloves. I wanted to buy some at lunchtime but ended up too busy to make it beyond the sandwich shop. This is also not boding well for my Christmas shopping. Still four days to go though so not time to panic yet.
I do have some gloves at the moment, of the hand-knitted variety. I didn't wear them for a while since they were knitted by my ex-girlfriend's grandmother and for a while they brought back painful memories.
But more recently, I haven't been wearing them because they don't actually fit me very well. The fingers are too long and they're tight around the finger bases. There is no sensible reason for me to put up with that sort of thing any more - I won't be risking offending anybody by refusing to wear them, so I may as well switch to some that fit.
But I'll have to buy some new ones first. This, as usual, poses a whole raft of new questions: What type of glove? What colour? Well, ok, just two new questions. Let's tackle them one by one.
I'm a firm believer that there are only two colours grown boys can get away with in a glove: Black and grey. And choosing between them, well, who really cares? So that's an easy one.
Type of glove though, is harder. Woolly? Leather? Padded ski? Gardening? Driving? Rubber?
Rubber is just daft. I shouldn't have put it as an option. Although they are cheap, they clearly fail on the black/grey front. And as for gardening or driving, I don't have a garden and I also don't have a car. So strike those two.
I have no current plans to go skiing, so ski-gloves are not necessary. And they'd also be completely impractical for operating my iPod. Or indeed, my front door, coat pockets, coat buttons and anything and everything else - apart from ski poles. Which I don't have any of, since I'm not going skiing.
And leather? No. Don't like 'em.
So that leaves woolen gloves. But woolen gloves have one big, huge drawback: They are rubbish, awful for Snowball Fights! They just get wet, cold and you die of hand-pneumonia. And maybe frostbite too. I don't want that. I like having ten fingers. Having less than ten fingers would make the task of buying gloves even harder! Unless there are some highly specialist shops around, I'd have to resort to hand-knitted ones.
That, then, would rule out woolen gloves and leave me with no option but keeping my hands in my pockets (and that's a bad idea, as when it's slippy, which is oft when it's cold, I need my hands out of my pockets so that I can wave my arms around to keep my balance and not fall over).
Except: Wait, hang on, I'm 28 years old. I don't have snowball fights any more. I work in an office and then go home. If I do throw a snowball it's almost certainly after I've imbibed alcohol, when I probably don't care if I'm cold or wet. I'm old and dull and chucking lumps of ice around is sadly not part of my normal life any more. Where did the fun go? When did we stop enjoying the simple joys of life?
Fine. I may never be able to regain my lost youth, but at least it means I can comfortably settle on buying some brand new, warm, woolly gloves.
And in the meantime I'll wear my old ones and remember that once, a long time ago, a near-stranger made me a pair of gloves, and expected nothing in return.
----
Quick aside: Do you ever wonder if every morning you have actually leapt, QL style, into a different person? Or is that just me?
----
Anyway, so I need to buy some gloves. I wanted to buy some at lunchtime but ended up too busy to make it beyond the sandwich shop. This is also not boding well for my Christmas shopping. Still four days to go though so not time to panic yet.
I do have some gloves at the moment, of the hand-knitted variety. I didn't wear them for a while since they were knitted by my ex-girlfriend's grandmother and for a while they brought back painful memories.
But more recently, I haven't been wearing them because they don't actually fit me very well. The fingers are too long and they're tight around the finger bases. There is no sensible reason for me to put up with that sort of thing any more - I won't be risking offending anybody by refusing to wear them, so I may as well switch to some that fit.
But I'll have to buy some new ones first. This, as usual, poses a whole raft of new questions: What type of glove? What colour? Well, ok, just two new questions. Let's tackle them one by one.
I'm a firm believer that there are only two colours grown boys can get away with in a glove: Black and grey. And choosing between them, well, who really cares? So that's an easy one.
Type of glove though, is harder. Woolly? Leather? Padded ski? Gardening? Driving? Rubber?
Rubber is just daft. I shouldn't have put it as an option. Although they are cheap, they clearly fail on the black/grey front. And as for gardening or driving, I don't have a garden and I also don't have a car. So strike those two.
I have no current plans to go skiing, so ski-gloves are not necessary. And they'd also be completely impractical for operating my iPod. Or indeed, my front door, coat pockets, coat buttons and anything and everything else - apart from ski poles. Which I don't have any of, since I'm not going skiing.
And leather? No. Don't like 'em.
So that leaves woolen gloves. But woolen gloves have one big, huge drawback: They are rubbish, awful for Snowball Fights! They just get wet, cold and you die of hand-pneumonia. And maybe frostbite too. I don't want that. I like having ten fingers. Having less than ten fingers would make the task of buying gloves even harder! Unless there are some highly specialist shops around, I'd have to resort to hand-knitted ones.
That, then, would rule out woolen gloves and leave me with no option but keeping my hands in my pockets (and that's a bad idea, as when it's slippy, which is oft when it's cold, I need my hands out of my pockets so that I can wave my arms around to keep my balance and not fall over).
Except: Wait, hang on, I'm 28 years old. I don't have snowball fights any more. I work in an office and then go home. If I do throw a snowball it's almost certainly after I've imbibed alcohol, when I probably don't care if I'm cold or wet. I'm old and dull and chucking lumps of ice around is sadly not part of my normal life any more. Where did the fun go? When did we stop enjoying the simple joys of life?
Fine. I may never be able to regain my lost youth, but at least it means I can comfortably settle on buying some brand new, warm, woolly gloves.
And in the meantime I'll wear my old ones and remember that once, a long time ago, a near-stranger made me a pair of gloves, and expected nothing in return.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
A Sunday afternoon not spent lounging
This afternoon it was a Sunday afternoon, like what it is most times at this time of time. Last Sunday afternoon (and evening) I just stayed in and watched hobbits on telly. This week I went out into the actual world for a free gig. At Fibbers (again) doors opened at midday. It was strange to enter in daylight and leave in darkness. That is not uncommon on summer evenings, but I don't normally experience it in winter - normally it's enter in the dark and leave in the dark.
Playing today that I wanted to see were Four Day Hombre (Acoustic). They were, as ever, excellent. I seem to say that a lot about them. They managed to make an awful lot of noise for an acoustic gig. "First Word" today merged into a cover of Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" rather than the usual Kate Bush. It gave me shivers.
FDH were supporting a chap called Jason Feddy who as far as I can tell is a Yorkshireman currently domiciled in California. I think he used to be big on the local scene here, but then for Reasons, went away.
It was very busy for a Sunday afternoon - busier than many evenings that I've been to at Fibbs. It was also clearly filled with Fans Of Jason. People who knew all the words, and were singing along at often intervals. At times when he had the crowd singing along, it felt like being at a Robbie Williams concert. He did have on his side the fact that he was really good though. He was also very funny between songs. "I realised that through all the times of misery and nightmare in my life, there was one common denominator. It was me".
He played for getting on two hours, which if it had been an evening, would have been too much for me at my time of attention span. But since it was an afternoon, he managed to get away with it. Being good helped too.
However, since it was well past four when he finished, I have lost another opportunity for Christmas shopping. I suspect I'm going to be busy on Thursday and Friday this week.
Playing today that I wanted to see were Four Day Hombre (Acoustic). They were, as ever, excellent. I seem to say that a lot about them. They managed to make an awful lot of noise for an acoustic gig. "First Word" today merged into a cover of Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" rather than the usual Kate Bush. It gave me shivers.
FDH were supporting a chap called Jason Feddy who as far as I can tell is a Yorkshireman currently domiciled in California. I think he used to be big on the local scene here, but then for Reasons, went away.
It was very busy for a Sunday afternoon - busier than many evenings that I've been to at Fibbs. It was also clearly filled with Fans Of Jason. People who knew all the words, and were singing along at often intervals. At times when he had the crowd singing along, it felt like being at a Robbie Williams concert. He did have on his side the fact that he was really good though. He was also very funny between songs. "I realised that through all the times of misery and nightmare in my life, there was one common denominator. It was me".
He played for getting on two hours, which if it had been an evening, would have been too much for me at my time of attention span. But since it was an afternoon, he managed to get away with it. Being good helped too.
However, since it was well past four when he finished, I have lost another opportunity for Christmas shopping. I suspect I'm going to be busy on Thursday and Friday this week.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Friday, December 17, 2004
The Problem With Linen
Linen shirts: good or evil? Discuss.
I won't discuss for long. In general, I like linen shirts. Comfy, light and available in a variety of colours. However. They do have one drawback. After you've worn one for approximately ten minutes, it looks like you've been sleeping in it for the last fifteen years. Even if you just do nothing after putting one on but stand in the corner, alone, away from all possible disturbances, people will inevitably ask you "have you ironed that?". The only sensible answer is "not in the last ten minutes".
It's like there are (evil) linen shirt pixies who follow you around and whenever you turn away, wave pixie magic at you to form strange folds and creases in your clothes. I know I shouldn't believe in pixies at my age, but with evidence like this, surely nobody can prove me wrong.
Now clearly, it is not practical to carry an iron around with you all day to conduct shirt flattening activities whenever they are needed. And it would also be impractical to either a) remove one's shirt to iron it at frequent intervals through the day/night; or b) iron one's shirt whilst wearing it at frequent intervals through the day/night. So I'm really not sure what people are supposed to do with the damn things.
Surely it should be within the reach of modern fabric technology to create non-creasing linen? There's definitely a market out there for it.
Or maybe I'm missing the point and it's supposed to look like a stampede of mad horses has traipsed over you.
Any tips on this one would be appreciated.
I won't discuss for long. In general, I like linen shirts. Comfy, light and available in a variety of colours. However. They do have one drawback. After you've worn one for approximately ten minutes, it looks like you've been sleeping in it for the last fifteen years. Even if you just do nothing after putting one on but stand in the corner, alone, away from all possible disturbances, people will inevitably ask you "have you ironed that?". The only sensible answer is "not in the last ten minutes".
It's like there are (evil) linen shirt pixies who follow you around and whenever you turn away, wave pixie magic at you to form strange folds and creases in your clothes. I know I shouldn't believe in pixies at my age, but with evidence like this, surely nobody can prove me wrong.
Now clearly, it is not practical to carry an iron around with you all day to conduct shirt flattening activities whenever they are needed. And it would also be impractical to either a) remove one's shirt to iron it at frequent intervals through the day/night; or b) iron one's shirt whilst wearing it at frequent intervals through the day/night. So I'm really not sure what people are supposed to do with the damn things.
Surely it should be within the reach of modern fabric technology to create non-creasing linen? There's definitely a market out there for it.
Or maybe I'm missing the point and it's supposed to look like a stampede of mad horses has traipsed over you.
Any tips on this one would be appreciated.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
A cocktail for Christmas
I've never been one to believe in turning up to a party completely sober, especially at Christmas. This evening it's my final work Christmas dinner of the year, to be held at York's fantastic National Railway Museum.
So I decided to create a new cocktail to celebrate. Here are the instructions should you decide you want to try one:
Earl Grodka
1. Take one large shot-glass.
2. Take one Earl Grey teabag and lay it over the top of the glass.
3. Push it down a bit, into a slight cone shape - like filter coffee.
4. Pour vodka over the teabag. It should strain through into the glass.
5. Squeeze the teabag with a teaspoon.
6. Abandon teabag to the bin.
7. Add a single piece of ice.
8. Drink and enjoy.
Here's what it looks like:
And it don't taste half-bad!
It is highly possible that this cocktail has in fact been created before. If that is the case, then oh well!
So I decided to create a new cocktail to celebrate. Here are the instructions should you decide you want to try one:
Earl Grodka
1. Take one large shot-glass.
2. Take one Earl Grey teabag and lay it over the top of the glass.
3. Push it down a bit, into a slight cone shape - like filter coffee.
4. Pour vodka over the teabag. It should strain through into the glass.
5. Squeeze the teabag with a teaspoon.
6. Abandon teabag to the bin.
7. Add a single piece of ice.
8. Drink and enjoy.
Here's what it looks like:
And it don't taste half-bad!
It is highly possible that this cocktail has in fact been created before. If that is the case, then oh well!
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