UK Watercooler I got 21 seconds to flow, I got 21 seconds to go

Now let us see how good a psychic I am.

xpost whoa kate are you sure you wanna go out on a limb like that?!

I don't know anything though and I'm too scared of workmen to even have anyone in to fix my electricity or indeed repair my laundry machine.

Would 'chav' be the word you'd be looking for here?

Kontakte added me on myspace

I was wondering about this earlier: don't most bands do that to more or less anyone? It must mean that the actual bands's bulletin board is useless, right? I am in the annoying state where I'd like to add bands, so I can get their bulletins, but I occasionally send out some of my own, which I'd rather went to actual people instead of bands.

nope. "orange-faced-women-provincial-club thing" would be the words i was looking for, thanks.

xpost innocent smoothies rule, i wish i could afford them. i went to a market research thingy at their offices and said i'd buy their stuff all the time if i could but i'm not gonna buy it when i can make it myself for cheaper, and they claimed it was not possible to make their drinks any cheaper than buying them. how??

orange-faced provincial-club woman is very different from chav

Which reminds me, I got attacked by rogue swiss hairdressers last week and 3 inches of dreadlock is now pinned to the back bar of a bar in Zermatt.

So do mackerels and herring but I don't go mushing them up in fruit drinks.

nope. "orange-faced-women-provincial-club thing" would be the words i was looking for, thanks.

Well, that's better, but not by much. It's still "Ew the wrong people like this", which is a rubbish reason to dislike something. Er, not that it took, by the sounds of things. Any chance I could make a 'Dissenting opinion' CD full of poptimismic bangers? :)

(The track itself is 'Everytime we Touch' by Cascada, it's a pleasant little bit of eurobosh that heads Scooterwards in the chorus. Her voice is lacking a little something, and it gets a bit slow back in the verses, but fortunately there's a Happy Hardcore version that fixes both of these problems.)

Doesn't make it sound any more appealing i'm afraid

the track itself is a plate of steaming shite, both fast and slow versions. just appalling. thankfully it hasn't got any memorable melody or hook, so i have already forgotten how it goes and i will never have to hear it again. look, you think beyonce's voice is good to hear. i think she sounds like a giant mosquito next to my ear and i want her to shut the fuck up. we are never gonna agree on this stuff.

kate: about an hour before you're ready to start cooking everything else, cut the aubergine up however you want it. get a colander and put layers of sliced aubergine in it, having salted it first. put a plate under the colander, a side-plate on top of the aubergine and a bowl of water on top of the side-plate. leave it while you have a shower/watch doctor who/go shopping for the rest of your veg (about an hour, less if you've sliced it thinly). when you're ready to use it, check out the puddle of greyish-purplish liquid that's collected on the bottom plate. taste it - ugh, bitter! rinse the salt off each piece and you're ready to go.

(I think I hate the taste of salt more than I hate the taste of bitterness.)

Well, calling it 'their music' isn't going to un-muddy the waters. And also tastes change - isn't a lot of FWOABW 'chav music' these days indie?

thankfully it hasn't got any memorable melody or hook

Ah you're crazy, it has a great melody! I'm humming it right now.

Time for the first test-case of YSI on nu-ILX?

YSI = You Send It = quasi-legal to illegal file sharing. It was banned on old ILX. I generally think it's a good idea that if you don't own the copyright on it, don't post it on ILX.

i don't get it. they listen to it + i don't know anyone else who listens to it (well, ha, i thought i didn't) = it is their music. like bob the builder is children's music, and my chemical romance is top-shop-goths' music.

FWOABW

?

Ah you're crazy, it has a great melody! I'm humming it right now.

and this is like that song with the strings we've had several conversations about, the one that someone else who's occasionally on ilx thinks has some crazy-ass wicked hooky strings. see, i have even forgotten - again - which song that even is. is it toxic? is it by britney or christina, maybe? is it a different song? they played it at do dirt and you told me what it was and i have forgotten it again. i have heard it several times, paid proper attention to it to try and figure out what the hell you were both talking about, and i cannot remember a thing about it. it is completely unmemorable. i could hear it RIGHT NOW and in ten minutes be unable to hum even a couple of bars of the chorus.

I am slightly despairing in that I was thwarted again in seeing Children of Men this weekend, while the fever pitch talk around it (ILX talk being a small portion of it) is driving me up a wall. STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW IT MAKES THE BLIND SEE AND THE DEAF HEAR; CAN'T SOMETHING JUST BE A GOOD MOVIE? (Not directed at anyone on this thread.)

Pop is about expectations, more than any other genre.

(is annie bubblegum pop? i like annie. i don't even hate that toxic song, it just slides off my ears as soon as it touches them. whereas the thing the teen was playing this weekend, i really hated.)

(haha maybe annie is CHEWINGGUM POP haha see what i did there...)

hello ned! oh noes, what happened this weekend to stop you seeing it?

That is Britney's Toxic, yes. I don't think they played that at Do Dirt, I think they played Hung Up by Madonna and you thought that might have been it. But I could be wrong.

Yeah I don't really mean you must be crazy, I guess it just falls into the list of pop that you don't "get". I'n not even saying it's OMG Song of the Year, I just think it's a pleasant little number that there should be more like.

I think I overreacted there, I think it's not the "I will teach her the ways of indie" but rather "and save her from the RUBBISH that she THINKS she likes" that got my knee jerking.

I am trying to think of a genre I really hate... I guess NME/Carling rock. You could play me the best Artic Monkeys track that they have ever recorded, and it would still fail to engage me in any way, because I just don't get or understand that kind of music.

I've put a new song on the MySpace. It is very literary.

True in part but I think surprise is often best. We could unpack that one forever, though!

Emsk: a combination of previous commitments on the one hand (which I was planning around) and a computer collapse on the other (since fixed, just). Trying to keep up with a lot of things hanging fire via the nearby netcafe wasn't impossible but it did put a crimp on things. Happily much else of the weekend balanced it all out, from introducing a friend to other friends with gardening interests to a surprise Saturday lunch with another group of friends to testing out a slew of new recipes to hanging out with *another* group of friends last night watching Dig! and explaning what Dirty Dronerock Boys were.

Hoi! I'm not saying "Toxic is great", I'm saying "Toxic is memorable"!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

You could have just sent them to the club on Saturday night.

It's weird how there has been this post-Dig! knock-on effect of reviving the whole Dandys/BJM aesthetic. I'm hearing all these Dandys rip-off bands (The Tambourines, Morning After Girls, etc.) NOW rather than, oh, ten years ago, when a lot of the stuff in Dig! was happening.

Gah, it's odd to think that's all 10 years ago, but it is now. Blimey. I feel old.

Around here? Hmm, maybe. (They all decided the person in the film who came off the best was Joel.)

Ha ha, Joel comes off best in the film because he was the only person the Timoners didn't fall out with in the course of making the movie.

I'll assume 'third time is the charm' for this weekend.

Is it out on video? I probably need to get it.

Double DVD with three separate commentaries -- from the Dandys, the filmmakers and various BJM types. (I don't know if Anton is one of them.) Plus bonus footage and live cuts and etc. etc. etc.

yes, and i'm saying i think toxic is utterly unmemorable, because i do not remember it, despite deliberately Listening To It. the "i don't hate it" part was to kate, really. i mean, yeah, if it came on the radio i would turn it down or off or over, but i wouldn't leap across the room to do it like i would with the national anthem.

I think I overreacted there,

i think you're just misinterpreting everything i'm saying!

I think it's not the "I will teach her the ways of indie" but rather "and save her from the RUBBISH that she THINKS she likes" that got my knee jerking.

ha, it's not like she's not going to stop listening to whatever she and her friends are into just because i say i don't like it! she's 14, she has to listen to what all her friends are listening to, whatever else might be in there. it's the law. i'm just throwing some other stuff at her that i think there's more to. (ooh bad sentence.) i really did think that thing was completely without any merit whatsoever, but i think the exact same thing about razorlight.

I'll assume 'third time is the charm' for this weekend.

weeknights not an option?

kate, tonight i will play you annie.

I try to avoid full price movie screenings on principle. (Also, my nearest theater is not showing it.)

yes, and i'm saying i think toxic is utterly unmemorable, because i do not remember it, despite deliberately Listening To It.

Yes yes, I'm well-resigned to not seeing eye-to-eye here. I was responding to a bunch of people saying "yeah, I remember it and it's alright" and you calling them voices of reason, and me a space alien.

Obviously I have no problem with you being the space alien: you like that kind of stuff :)

Every time I go and read a girlie thread, I come out feeling like a space alien. Like, I don't do ANY of those things. Does it really make a difference? It just seems like such a bother. And so much MONEY to waste that I'd rather spend on CDs or guitar pedals. Or Thackeray novels.

Don't worry, I am missing some of my boy bits as well (although not the obvious ones)

I just think that any skin care beyond soap, water and a bit of moisturiser is a WASTE OF MONEY. And it's not like I've got skin like a horned toad or anything.

But I mean, the rest of that stuff - would it really make me have better skin? Would it make me attractive? Am I missing out? I don't really think so. It's just confusing. But I'm not pretty so there's nothing to protect, I guess. Or perhaps it's these lotions and potions and glamours that make one pretty in the first place and I'm losing out!

But I suppose I don't do all those things that make your skin go 'orrible, like smoking or wearing makeup day in day out or sunbathing.

i just grabbed a Danelectro Tuna Melt on ebay for £20. I kind of worry about a plastic pedal, like whether I'll smash it or not, but everyone sez they're really great for the money. I need some gentle retro-trem for a song I'm working on right now, so I though I'd give it a shot.

But, at £20, it's not that big a deal.

ah, we have it the other way around, if you go to the flicks on a w/e it's gonna cost you more than in the week.

hurrah for freecycle! two REALLY NICE people just came and picked up my flatmate's old bed frame and i got to feel all warm and fuzzy.

lots of xposts. which girlie thread?

That's freakish. (Over here, it's about time of day -- matinee showings v. full price, and since I'm at work during matinee screenings on weekdays, thus.)

It is very, very confusing.

Then again, who knows. I went from using a £1 bargain shampoo to using some fancy £5 bottle of shampoo, and my hair looks the best it's looked in years. But that could just be because I use such little tiny bits of it (coz I'm scared of how expensive it is) that it doesn't rob my hair of all its naturally shiny oils and stuff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6287457.stm

Police are patrolling beaches in Devon where members of the public have been taking goods washed ashore from stricken container ship MSC Napoli.

Hundreds of people have made off with goods worth thousands of pounds from about 40 containers at Branscombe.

Police warned them they were breaking the law if they failed to declare taking any of the ship's cargo.

The coastguard said it may take a week to pump 3,500 tonnes of oil from the ship to stop more leaks into the sea.

Ten police officers were on the beach to prevent containers being broken open.

They were also handing out forms so people could report what they had taken to the Receiver of Wreck. This must be done within 28 days, otherwise they are committing an offence.

Branscombe Police's Pc Steve Speariett said "a couple of hundred people" were on the beach on Sunday night with the same number again scavenging on Monday.

"Around 50 BMW motorbikes were carried off the beach last night," he added.

i don't get the girls who wear make-up every day (pls note i am not contesting their right to do so) - dude, you're going to work. why are you wearing make up? and what are you gonna do when you want to look special for a special occasion?

in my experience less is more with looking after your hair as well, i realise mine is pretty much the opposite of yours in texture, thickness, wiriness, shape, but when i used to wash it a couple of times a week it was totally unmanageable. i wash it every 10 to 21 days (closer to 10 in summer, 21 in winter) with shampoo made out of, i dunno, tree bark or bits of porridge or moonshine or apples or nuts or something, and it's wicked.

Well, actually, that's mildly untrue. I'm off to meet an ex-Sinisterine friend who some of you might remember. But I'll look out for flotsam whilst I'm there.

I have just fixed a nasty bug in an invoice-sending Perl program what I wrote. Hurrah!

Ned in the UK again in the next few months? Double hurrah!

I started a thread a long time ago about "do you really wear makeup every single day" etc. And it was quite surprising.

I wear makeup on very special occasions - usually if I want to look extra special sexy or something. (Or if I'm playing a gig, I have to because stage lights wash you out otherwise.) I can remember going on an interview - and it was just the preliminary agency interview, and the woman told me I should wear makeup to interviews. And I just looked at her aghast. No way. Makeup is something I wear to look Sexy with a big S - Sexy is utterly inappropriate in a work setting.

I dunno. When I read some people's beauty routines, it just seems so self perpetuating - like they use one product to strip everything off their skin - and then another product to put nutrients back in their skin. And I just want to say "eat nicer food and drink more water, and you will have those nutrients without all the taking stuff off and putting stuff on!"

kate, once a week sounds perfectly sensible. i meant the mentalists who wash it every day - "i have to, because it gets really greasy otherwise" - well YES, of course it does, you are stripping all the natural oils from your scalp so it goes mental and overcompensates, thus you have oily hair.

Oh, FMM's office is around the corner from your house, and has been since mid last year!

isn't it more of a question of being able to do it reliably in x number of bars.

I go to Berlin on the 8th, YAY ME.

Hmm, I like me a bit of moisturiser and need to use it because my skin is both dry and sensitive, plus in the rare event that I do get a spot I'm tempted to gouge the bejesus out of it, so I have something from Kiehl's that I've rechristened Zap because it works straight away. I spent at least £100 on Kiehl's last year, not counting gifts, because I want to hang onto good skin. My hair is thick but not ringletty enough to cope with unwashedness and of course I WOULD BE ABLE TO SMELL SEBUM AND DIRT ON MY SCALP, EWW, if it was not washed daily.

Most boys who say they can get by on soap and water = delusional.

Not I. (I say this because I know how to avoid the sun around here.)

this gruff rhys album is very very easy to listen to.

You have the new one? I am teh jealous. :-/

what's a chair massage? i want to lie on my tummy and have someone do unspeakably wonderful things to my back.

Anyone who is shouting at half midnight is a cnut, though.

((Except for the mysterious oboe player in my neighbourhood, but I never hear them except in the afternoons.))

...Ed, quite frankly, I think this kind of behaviour warrants a "hello, there ARE other people living in this building, too" visit.

^ a closet small apartment in Chelsea up for grabs for 170k, wtf.

What about girls? I do *occasionally* use a face mask or something, but only when I remember, which is like about one every couple of months or something. Otherwise, soap and water. I own lots of things (facial scrubs, deep cleansing stuff etc) but can never be arsed with them.

FP, who is the Sinisterine you're meeting? Clues will do if you don't want to post their name.

I thought you'd probably met her at some point, Ailsa.

I'm going to go and get a haircut this morning I think.

I have had a large box delivered to my desk this morning. Or more precisely it was delivered to my colleague opposite's desk yesterday when he was off sick and this morning he said "There's a large box with yr name on it under my desk". I think it's my delivery of 15 bottles of rooibos. I have become addicted to the rooibos they sell in the canteen and always buy a bottle for my lunch. I discovered that the particular brand isn't sold in shops, but only on the interweb.

I met Dimitra once at a bowlie all dayer at the Pleasure Unit in Bethnal Green. I was a sinister person not a bowlie but I knew some ppl in one of the bands, so went along. Dimitra seemed very nice. Her boyfriend was there too, but I forget his name.

Internet Hardman - there's a thread somewhere where Matt DC calls me an internet hardman IIRC. Old man, more like.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/366862359_0def200b00.jpg?v=0

Hang on a sec, Kerr - here's the last dozen songs my ipod played:

Rosie Thomas - Two Dollar Shoes
Geto Boys - My Mind Playin' Tricks on Me
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
Phyllis Nelson - Move Closer
Missy Elliott - Hot
Nelly Feat Kelly - Dilemma
808 State - Cubik
Compton's Most Wanted - Hood Took me Under
Blue Orchids - Lover of Nothing (thanx Dr C!)
Aislers Set - Untitled Wyatt Song
Maria Callas - Ave Maria
Harper's Bizarre - Anything Goes

Eclectic enough? Couple of twee-ish songs in there, some techno, hip-hop, chart soul and nindie. Pretty accurate reflection of what I listen to.

**Blue Orchids - Lover of Nothing (thanx Dr C!)**

Uh? Fantastic song that, did I recommend it or something?

Ha - found it! The 'harder' thread was started by Mark H.

I was listening to Camper Van Beethoven, the Knife and Young Marble Giants last night. And thinking about all the bands that YMG must've been an influence on - I can definitely hear hints of them when I listen to Broadcast, for example. Whatever happened to the YMG singer? Her voice is amazing.

Owl is a pic of a barn owl sitting on a post which was taken by my fellow pub quiz league team member Andy. He was amazed that it turned out so well, coz not only do you rarely see owls active during the day, but he was able to get a really close shot with just a zoom lens rather than telephoto. He has a very good quality Epson printer at home which cost him £500 so it is a really clear print.

I had to do some fiddling to put the pic up tho. I bought a metal frame from Tesco for £8.99 which had been reduced from £22. There was nothing on the packaging to say that it was actually a free standing pic frame with a folding bit at the back so you could stand it on a table or bookcase. There is not sutiable surface for the pic to go on, so I had to bend the uppermost clip that holds the backing on outwards with a pair of pliers so it functioned as a hook, then hope and pray it was sufficient to actually go over the hook on the wall successfully...luckily, it did.

The Outlook calendar has some kind of holiday functionality thingy for different countries doesn't it? Actually, I generally just use http://www.timeanddate.com.

I always get Young Marble Giants and Young Fresh Fellows mixed up.

None of it is as good as YMG. I bet I'm the only ILXer to have seen them live.

Blue Orchids - great, great band. All of these are wonderful records : http://home.wxs.nl/~frankbri/contact.html#blueor

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/Paronomasiac/owl05.gif

Ate roast veggies and watched Children of Men (am I psychic or what?) then Emsk played me various pop music. I'm not convinced on Annie - I know I've heard the song before, but it just doesn't stick in my head. And it's really just electro with indie girl vocals. No wonder the rockists like it. Lilly Allen, however, I was forced to concede enjoyment of, oh, I'm so ashamed.

I have washed my face today (soap and water) but not showered or washed my hair. Ha ha!

http://dyn-images.hsn.com/is/image/HomeShoppingNetwork/513078?$pd300$

But not with a wig, natch.

Maybe I just need to get some chopsticks.

http://typo.coffeehaus.com/archives/Chignon.gif

Ah! Gerrard Street!

I thought part of the charm with Annie was the choones (and the oblique references to blowjobs in Chewing Gum).

Hrmmm. What it comes down to, I suppose, is that I've heard the Annie song maybe twice, but still can't tell you how it goes. It didn't stick to my head. I've heard "LDN" twice - and I could hum the chorus at the end of the first time I heard it.

There were an awful lot of floppy haired indie boys flopping about Holborn when I went out to get lunch. Is it early spring?

Chopsticks not hot.

As already discussed, I think that's why I'm thinking the 1st one's hott!

The pretty girls never went away for me, they're everywhere, 360 days a year (the other 5 I'm blind drunk). It's so depressing.

And the friend with whom I'd been playing email tag with all week, and I thought I had *finally* pinned down plans with has just changed plans AGAIN.

I just want to go home and eat soup. I spent last night out, I dont want to spend tonight out again.

I'm getting the "grrrr" about tonight now. Is it horrible to not mind going home and having someone round your own house for dinner, but to be cross about having to go out to a restaurant instead?

(Not even mentioning the "I have £8.20 until Thursday" thing which would preclude most restaurants, and, in fact, drinking at all.)

Yeah yeah I'M NOT JEALOUS OR ANYTHING.

because the Jesus and Mary Chain are from there!

Speaking of which, you heard about the reunion, yes?

(Yeah, yeah, I know Freeheat, etc. Blah.)

Also from waaaay upthread, £100 is not a lot to spend on personal hygiene over the course of a year - it averages to just over £8/month - I know *straight* boys who spend that on razor blades alone. It's certainly not a lot if you are buying something a) not tested on animals b) not full of the usual chemicals and c) not from a hyoooge company (all are important issues to me). Although if people want to NOT STINK the first and best thing they should do is to drink more water than any other liquid they might imbibe over the course of a day.

I'm intrigued by the production on these Lilly Allen tracks. (Yes, I always prefer listening to overhyped things 6 months after the hype dies down, so I can judge them by their own merits, not hte hype or the reaction to it.) The scatchiness of the samples vs. the clarity of the pop production. And I am LOVING the vocal doubling, it's subtle yet well done.

I expect they will when Spencer Percival comes out.

I probably should just go home, I'm exhausted. And skint.

The slight concern with me is budgetary -- if it were on my own I'd do my time-honored practice of just seeking a couch to crash on. Hina's suggested the Holiday Inn in Camden, where she's been before on past trips, but wouldn't mind staying with anyone who'd have room to put up with two folks comfortably! (And I can vouch for Hina completely, having known her for almost a decade.) So I'm putting out the call here and elsewhere -- anybody up for a couple of guests from the 4th to the 10th or so, and might have a guest room and a couch spare (or some combination thereabouts)? Do let me know! This said, any good suggestions for hotel service, or even a solid bed and breakfast, are certainly welcomed as well, and/or good sites for searching for same.

More soon!

Can someone please give Sande a kick up the ass and get her to put some stuff down on tape, pronto? Thx.

We have been on the case constantly, multi-tracks have existed for some time but remain unmixed down.

I also saw that someone had built a 4ft snowman! He was a right fat bastard too, with a carrot for a nose in the time-honoured fashion. I said to the house owner "That was quick work" and she explained that her kids had been up at three in the morning building it!

* that's right, isn't it Johnney?

As pretty as snow is, I can't seem to get excited by it, all the childish wonder has been drained out of me. Unlike my housemate, who screeched in glee like a banshee when I came down this morning. I can't be doing with loud things in the morning, and I'm happy that she's excited, but please, shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

ned, this is excellent news. i dunno if we can help re: accommodation, but YAY!

Can someone please give Sande a kick up the ass and get her to put some stuff down on tape, pronto? Thx.

HUEY! hello! how's life? i have a 3-track demo i got from sande a week or two ago. it's being quite closely guarded tho i think, and to be fair there are extenuating circumstances re: mixing. but, y'know, plans are afoot. i know they always are but...

I guess my snonchalance stems from the fact that my weather during the weekday is always grey and blue with a Start button in the bottom-left corner. If it was snowing at the weekend my mood would be somewhat different.

Ned! Come stay in lovely Hackney!

Definitely looking forward to meeting Ned!

This makes me so happy! Despite my train being delayed by nearly half an hour.

I went to bed really early last night so I missed it, but woke up this morning, looked out in the back yard and blinked several times before realising THERE WAS SNOW EVERYWHERE!!!!

Hurrah for Ned coming to town. I would offer my sofa, but it only sleeps one (short) person. My blow up matress no longer stays inflated all night and is not comfortable.

If I were an Oracle programmer, I'd be paid twice what I am now.

This shit just pisses me off.

Or you could get them to pay for you to become Oracle certified and hey presto, you are suddenly worth more.

Or you could get them to pay for you to become Oracle certified and hey presto, you are suddenly worth more.

Ha ha ha ha ha, that would be hilarious.

The agency we use have sent a creative director from the USA over to run the whole thing - I have worked with her for 3 years but never met her before. And she's - TOTAL TALL HOTTNESS!! OMG!!
At lunchtime we're doing a photoshoot of some employees for use in various customer blurbs. I sez - Oh shit, am I too scruffy today? She sez - NO! I really like your look, you look really approachable. Gulp. Must maintain cool.

(Still, I agree with Emsk's assertation that workplace crushes are a fun and positive thing if they go no further.)

BUT I think there many be others going and anyway I can't go (band rehearsal) and anyway I'm spoken for and......kill me now.

ha Kate - SENSIBLE and ABOVE ALL THAT? You are joking! I just keep it well hidden and under control usually. But not today.

Haha this sentence may need more brackets!

And I've no longer got one.

:-(

Just going down for the photoshoot now. See you later. Must not act like poxy fule.

No, I don't have to banish them if they be known, I just tend to make a fool of myself if they be known. (Or not, as the case may be.) Nothing on earth I know banishes crushes. Except getting the crush destroyed in a bubble by twattish behaviour on the part of the crush, which is pretty effective.

::mass exodus from library::

Error: File attribute does not fit

Error: Too many errors

Press any key to reboot.

And, a reboot gives me ... a blue screen. Shit.

One Windows installation disk later, a recovery console session, and lots more fscking, it's working again. But - yeah, that was a slightly worrying morning.

I think I have FINALLY sorted out plans with the friend I have been playing tag with. That is good. (I hope I have not spoken too soon.)

I think I'm going to need to check a few concepts with her this afternoon.

TOTAL. TALL. HOTTNESS.

Beat me to death for my own good.

Anyway, morning all. So Andrew, about lovely Hackney and all that...

I'm sure she will if you ask nicely.

I'm thinking that 'snow' might prevent me from rehearsing tonight. Or car trouble. Cars often go wrong in cold weather.

(I have reflected on how I'd feel if my husband told me he was going out for dinner tonight in a similar circumstance - I actually wouldn't mind and would think it rather sweet, but we've been married since nineteen-hundred-and-frozen-to-death and he's never given me a moment's concern in all that time about his ability to behave himself in the presence of extreme hottness)

Well - the missus has been known to spend time in the presence of total male hottness in her line of work. NOT THAT I EVER FEEL JEALOUS, HELL NO.

I'd better shut up about that.

But now......it's time for concepts. Back in an hour. OR MAYBE NOT AT ALL!

1 expansive room with double bed + fold-out sofa-futon, 2 minutes from London Fields, 5 minutes from busses to town. Room has not yet been tested for habitation by people who aren't me, though accentmonkey and her beau will be doing so some time next week. We also have a living room with two of the sofa-futon things in it, however they can't both be folded out at the same time, which Raises Questions.

Ppl here are quite surprised I've never been to ULU considering I go to so many gigs. My mate Colin has been but the last time he went he saw My Bloody Valentine, so goodness knows how long ago that must've been!

We'll figure it out! Thanks very much, Andrew, I'll happily take you up on this offer and doubtless Hina will too! Among other things I'll volunteer to assist in all cooking and cleaning while we're there, which ties in nicely with Ed's gastronomic wish. :-)

Right now the schedule for me is Monday through Wednesday = Brett shows, with Thursday and Friday night free. So I was thinking an ILX party/FAP/whatever on the Friday by fiat (is Poptimism scheduled for then?), since we leave the following morning and it is, after all, the end of the week. But this does not rule out various get-togethers along the way, of course.

(I'm not even bothered by this any more, I just like saying it.)

Ned - you could be having FUN instead!

Meantime, I 'love' how Wikipedia makes Hackney seem like the dark pit OH NOES.

It is not very tubed, you'll need at least one bus, though you should be able to get off after 10-15 minutes and be at Old Street/Angel/Kings Cross if the Underground is absolutely called for.

It is possible emsk may be able to undermine Kate's position here :)

can they expect a visit from Ian Brown anytime soon?

Ned (hic) : they were great!
Dr.C (slurring) : so were the Stockholm Monsters. They were great too!
Ned : I'm glad we agree
Dr.C (glancing over Ned's shoulder) : Excuse me, Ned. I've got to talk to someone TOTALLY TALL AND HOTT. Bye.

Meanwhile - still debating about the rehearsal. Dinner with TTH would be a threesome, I find out. Third party is 'miss marketing communications' who I don't get along with very well.

I wonder if Ned will be around for the March one, can we take ned barndancing?

It's not fair of me to leave TTH ON HER OWN with her, is it?

A song by Magazine comes to mind.

No, Ned. Not appropriate.

Going back downstairs to see Ms TTH. Back in an hour.

We'll see.

It would be great if CJ came dahn to the smoke when Ned is in town. Maybe I could get Beryl out?

Audio samples from Olidous Operettas can be found via this TCME e-card and the band’s official MySpace page: www.MySpace.com/CountyMedicalExaminers.

also i just got offered a ticket for I'M FROM BARCELONA, so i am going there. hurrah!

(I could also put in the requisite post about wishing I could get that excited about *anything* at the moment, but it would be tedious.)

srsly, i never had them til just over a year ago. they are one of the most delicious things i've ever tasted in my life. and i go out of my way to taste delicious things.

Dr C, I note you aren't terribly forthcoming on the results of the last hour with TTH womang. I HOPE YOU BEHAVED YOURSELF! More importantly, is BERYL going to be in the advertsing blurbs?

(also I emailed you yesterday, if your hotmail hasn't eaten it).

Unfun! It would have been a treat to meet up again. :-/

Good vegetables are fine things. Why, tonight I will be braising leeks in oil.

AILSAFAP 2007 remains on the cards, despite the resounding failure of the last one (Swygart and Lixi only).

Besides, if you have it on March 2 itself, you can celebrate my birthday. (Seriously, that is my birthday.)

I will alisafap and nedfap, do I need an excuse to go to the pub?

An excuse for cooking, sir, as well. Perhaps that can be on the Thursday. (Or alternately the Tuesday, which I might take off from the run o' Brettness, depending. I'll see how good he is on the first night.)

i even washed my HAIR today.

:-O My evil influence!

You mean it was that easy to get CJ down here? In that case...

I DEMAND THAT CJ COMES DOWN TO SEE ME, WHO HAS LESS HAIR BUT MORE SIDEBURNS THAN NED, BECAUSE I R GREAT AND I'M WORTH IT LIKE LOREAL BABY! DARN IT.

the water rats seems to have changed its name to the MONDO water rats. why? who are/what is mondo?

also, i do not fart, i am an LADY. oh, wait.

I hope I am well enough to come to Sande tomorrow, although I will not be out late.

Me: "You want to have a picture of me sitting in a corpse's lap?"

The conversation swiftly degenerated, presumably much like the figure in question.

(Andrew, you may regret your enthusiasm for my presence when I come looking for somewhere to stay...)

To me it's about equal, I find. Then again I'm always going *way* long distance to the West Coast, so if you're just heading over to the East Coast it might be less of a concern.

And Carter USM rule, so there.

West Coast is better but can be killer in either direction. The Discombobulation of the long flight and the 8/9 hour time difference can be kill or cure in either direction. Mind you the last time I did that style of trip was London-singapore-London in the space of 5 days so I might not be one to judge,

I shall come to London and sing the entirety of 1992: The Love Album with Mark. I *still* can't venture onto the underground in London without getting that line from "Lean On Me I Won't Fall Over" about "stuck in a tunnel on the Hammersmith and City line" stuck in my head, you know. I was remarkably relieved last time I was down with my brother and found that it happens to him too.

For a time in my late teens/ealy twenties my dad's gold number kept appearing on my tickets/boarding cards which meant i could blag myself and others into lounges (as long as I didn't try it in London). There was a memorable champagne and brandy bender in the Concorde lounge of JFK (thrown up on a 747 some hours later)

I would have made silver last year if it hadn't been for some pesky rules about Quantas Codeshares.

Normal way to get Gold - get 1200 points

Then we could bomb the fuckers.

Sorry Ails, as an arbiter of indie smugness early 90s style, I could only sing along to 30 Something or, preferably, 101 Damnations...

I could even put up a half-arsed defence of a couple of Sultans of Ping songs and probably even for Kingmaker if I could be bothered, but I'm not arguing with anyone who prefers grunge to Lush :-)

(this is my REVENGE for all of you lot wibbling (ha!) and droning (ha!) about prog and spacerock and shit)

I'd hate to live there.

One of the highlights of last year: Jim Bob opening for the Sultans in Dublin.

* one of these is a lie.

--- non-tech stuff ends here ---

We suddenly noticed one of our servers was reporting 512M of memory, which is odd cos it's supposed to have 2G. We cracked it open, and saw:

Slot: 1G
Slot: 512M
Slot: 512M
Slot: empty
Slot: empty
Slot: empty

We tried every configuration we could think of. With the 1G stick on its own it reported 1G. With just the 512Ms (moved to the top two slots), an error lamp lit up on the motherboard, and the bios reported a parity error. So, we phoned IBM support and got a spare 512M stick.

Today, we experimented with the original config (but with the new stick of memory instead of either old one), and we tried each stick individually. Apart from the 1G stick on its own, *all* of these configurations reported 512M of memory and no errors found. So ... either the motherboard or the bios software is knackered. Oh, joy.

I am going to dinner with Friend A tonight. Hopefully. Though with our current track record of missing one another, I will probably end up in Kilburn looking for deep fried mars bars.

I always find flying *to* America far more jet lag inducing than flying *from* America to UK. US -> UK jet leg you can effectively get over in one day if you are hard core and you don't nap. UK -> US I just find myself endlessly awakening at stupid o'clock in the morning and passing out mid conversation by dinner.

they are eating marmalade on the radio which costs FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS per jar!

i'm from barcelona: they win my feet and my teeth but not my heart.

*hunger hunger*

CARDAMOM IN MY COFFEE, CARDAMOM IN MY COFFEE, i got me some CARDAMOM IN MY COFFEE. can't really taste it :(

Lime marmelade and cheshire cheese sandwiches, num num num. Damn, I'm making myself starving now.

Totally on purpose - I think it was either cancer or lumpemdectomy related. But I just got sick of having health problems with my hands, so I took a big knife and cut off my left ring finger. It hurt a bit, but not that much. Didn't bleed. And the cut was really really clean - and not quite straight, just like a vegetable that had been chopped.

And I was thinking "ah, that wasn't so bad" and then realising that I wouldn't be able to play guitar. ARGH!!!

WTF? Argh, it was so strange.

Then I watched episodes of the Powerpuff Girls with Alex James guest starring. And trying to go and see the Dandy Warhols comeback show, but people I hated kept turning up, so I left, and took a bus to Oxford with my mum, but got off at the wrong stop.

God, what does it all *mean*? I am very relieved to still have my finger this morning. I woke up and looked at it first thing and thought "Phew! It's still there!"

I wish Alex James *had* guest-starred in the Powerpuff Girls.

How would that stop me playing guitar, anyway? (Or is it fear that creativity is linked to sexuality, and if I deny the latter, I lose the former?)

Mmmm, cardomoms in coffee or tea = num. And cinnamon sticks as well.

hit them a bit, cut them open and just put the seeds in.

MMM LIME MARMALADE, i haven't got any

but i have ANATOLIAN BREAKFAST

and an AVOCADO

num num

Fingers

To see your fingers in you dream, symbolizes physical and mental dexterity. They indicate manipulation, action and non-verbal communication. If you dream that your fingers fall off, then it suggests that you are letting a situation dominate you or dictate how you behave. You may be literally losing your grip on life.

To dream that your fingers are injured or have been chopped off, denotes your anxieties about your ability to accomplish some demanding task or perform in some waking situation.

To dream of a finger pointing at you, signifies self-blame.

To dream about your little finger, represents mental power, intellect, memory, and the power of communication.

To dream of your forefinger, signifies authority, direction, judgment. Your dream may be trying to make a point.

To dream of your middle finger, denotes prudence, practicality, caution, responsibility, and hard work. Alternatively, the middle finger may symbolize the phallus.

To dream of your ring finger, represents success, popularity and creativity, It also has association with marriage, union, and commitments.

Maybe it's also trying to warn me - yes, it's one thing to turn away from that Warholian lifestyle, but don't get off the bus too soon, and go down my mother's solution of celibacy. Maybe?

anatolian breakfast will cure anything. i have a meaty version i bought by accident. anyone want it?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,,1998017,00.html

fuck you bigots

ok it's not *that* hot!

Alas, old age. Bah.

Ed, did you get mail from me yesterday, could you forward it on to Kate if you did?

(quietly)...morning

::was he wearing those clothes yesterday?::

andrew, that is nonsense.

they'll notice him then.

ha xpost

Ah, there is a picture of Alex James in front of a radioastronomy telescope but it is protected. Bah. I will have to make do with this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/identiciblog/Somiglianze/alex_james.jpg

Yes, he harvests spacerock and sends cheese to Mars. I love him.

http://bilder.cdstarts.de/thumbs/firstnews/CDFN30095703.jpg

And a thumbnail of Alex harvesting Spacerock, which is all I can get.

http://www.redferns.com/ln_pictures/sysiphus/redcom/100/SHE001_Alex_JAMES_1.JPG

I just looked at my outlook, and I have meetings back to back the whole afternoon. Whose idea was that? I can't deal with that much meeting! I will explode. Help me, please.

I have suggested myself - I'll probably totally blow it, but it's worth asking.

(imagine going for an audition, eep!)

I always do terribly at "auditions" though. Bah.

went to band rehearsal

A piece of paper appeared this morning, pinned to the back of my chair with the words "Busy : Mid-Life Crisis" written on it.

It seems my excitement yesterday didn't go unnoticed. I've left it pinned there - after all, it's true.

Band - whooo - go for it Kate!

We'll see, because every time I get excited about something, it never actually ends up happening.

.. by request, for a mate who has just installed himself a tidy shedful of kit. After a session of 'blocking it out' chords, I just heard the new mix 2 days ago, and it's shaping up nicely. I may even hawk it up to myspace! The plan is to do more tracks, and oops just like that I've got about ten songs all concepted out if not actually written.

Here's an example of a couple:

Going in Slow Motion - I talked about this one previously, this is the "Please Please Me" Beatles playing "Did you no wrong" anyway
Tell Lies - Sort of like "Friend" Adam and the Ants jaunty style. About how great Telling lies is. Middle eight is "And if you don't like it I don't really care, cause I'm going with your girl cause I told her I'm a millionaire.."
Searching for Lazy Girls - Someone went onto a chat page looking for lyrics to a song called "Lazy Girls" but I thought his original question was a better title and riffed some thoughts on it.

Hmm, wonder which chat board I meant?

Basically, I have the basic idea, think about it for a long while, then come the day, write down a lyric off the top of my head. It looks like I wrote the song in five minutes (which is true, but my brain's been running it detached for some time)

Well it would be good, but....I can't.

Groutmusic sounds fun.

I didn't leave the band last night. I sat for ages outside the rehearsal room listening to rehearsal tapes of **the other band** and thinking 'why am I bothering with this'. So I go in, we set up, other guitarist starts playing a really good riff, drums and bass join in. I crank up the Tele and just kind of come up with lots of great parts on the spot - sort of alternating between open and ringing harmonies and tight, choppy cross-chords. It sounds GREAT! So I'm thinking, hell maybe this is going to get better fast.

Anyway, we do some other songs and I say 'lets go back to the new one'. No-one seems that keen. Guitarist says 'I can't remember what I was playing'. Singer says 'I haven't got enough words yet'. So I say, don't worry about the words yet, lets just try and capture what we were doing before. We have a half-hearted try at it and then just leave it. SO FRUSTRATING!

But also it seems that there is to be an album recorded in March and I guess I'll stick around as my songs will be on it, so I might as well be.

Yes, old stuff needs to be gone over, but if you don't do new stuff, you stagnate.

Hrmmm, is there anything FUN happening neeexxxt Saturday? I'm going on a playdate with my friend's boyfriend while she's doing something else and I don't just wanna go see some band or whatever.

neeeext Saturday is the start of the 6-nations Rugby, kate. You could perhaps watch some highlights together?

x-post very upthread to Ailsa. Got your email yes! Alisafap sounds great - hope i can make it.

i am amazing cooking person

hsbc are a royal pain in the arse

who are wales playing in the rugby? i might actually watch that.

prawnie (may i call you that?), do you have to prove you live in camden to get a massage?

:-) There are not enough! Oh yes, the leeks braised in oil turned out great, if a bit chewy.

If anyone wants these demos of Spacemen 3 that I've just uploaded to sendspace pleasepost your email here.

I'm still around, just not got much to say & feeling a bit down generally. I stick up aim a couple of times most days, but there's usually no-one up & on it.

http://www.hello-cthulhu.com/?date=2006-04-29

x-posts

Argh. Dude had not even looked through the reports I made for him, and expected me to sit there while he looked at them apparently for the first time, and GO THROUGH MATCHING UP TOTALS to the old reports with him. I nearly lost it.

I had to show him how to do a pivot table, as well. Like, dude...

::bashes head against desk::

I'm supposed to have another meeting straight after, but I'm not sure I can handle it.

Aw, Pash - sending groovy vibrations through the ethersphere to you. Hope yer mood improves as the days get longer.

Or rather, "What ho, milord?"

Perhaps Kerr was thinking more that Mediaeval Babes have been travelling around the world to bring grooviness to Pashmina!

genuine actual lol! you should be on the telly. no, REALLY. can i impose myself on you on saturday morning and try to snag a free massage?

What ice cold stream would we utilise, anyway? Hackney Brook? The River Lee or Lea? I ain't getting in that! I know where it's been!

oh shit if i'm going to kilburn i better fix my brakes. gonna do that now...

Now whenever you email her, you will get a little flush when you see her name in your inbox... :-)

She made a few comments of a 'you missed your chance' nature today.

Which is no bad thing, whatever anyone may tell you.

I used to make Mars Bar toasties when I was at school. That's like a sort of forerunner of deep fried mars bar, innit? Except with bread instead of batter. And toasted instead of fried (but toasted with lots of butter on the outside, so still gooey and sort of fried-ish). Mmmm, they were good.

Neil is eating a manky old haggis tonight, talking of Scottish delicacies. I can't stand the stuff, bleurgh at all innards, so am having lovely lovely venison instead. Hurrah! We shall be toasting haggises and drinking whisky and so on. Happy birthday, Robert Burns! All together now... "fair fa' yer honest sonsie face, great chieftain o' the pudding' race"

xpost some towering babe of dark-haired hotness. *googles* called Heike Makatsch, if that helps.

GET OFF MY THREAD!!! PHILISTINE!!!!

just down from lumi. the pub under lumi does nummy thai food which might help.

and BOO HOO i am a total fuckwit and have damaged my wheel rims by not changing the brake blocks soon enough :( *stabs self repeatedly with allen key*

Mars Bars toasties - insanity.

(also, Kate, Dylan Moran is in Notting Hill playing a dirty scruffbag, so you can justify watching it in the name of research)

i think me and teh prawn are meeting at 7.45. we are going for chips at some point, but it must be proper chip chips and not fries, which may prove tricky. i can't do any pre.post-gig drinking as i am TOTALLY skinto.

THE ONLY GOOD CURTIS IS A...

Oh hang on:
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g152/Lnachts/ben.jpg

That's what came to mind the first time I saw the weddingsfuneral.

"fuckitty fuck" WTF?

I LOVE HUGH GRANT! THIS IS MY CRUSH OF NON-SHAME! (I think I've admitted this before)

Mark, posh people are brilliant at swearing. It's what they do best. You don't know enough posh people.

I'm not even saying posh peopple can't swear!

I'm saying the swearing in fw&tF is OK funny but rub!

You decided you wanted to fall in love with your cousin?

Also, "last good thing Rowan Atkinson ever did" = WRONGEST THING ON TEH INTERWEBS.

That "thunderbolt" speech is the most utter wrongness that has ever come out a male mouth. And utterly ruined more men's emotional lives more effectively than Mills and Boon have ever ruined women.

THERE IS NO THUNDERBOLT!!! THIS IS A MYTH!!!! Argh.

I'm pretty sure he's done nothing of note since Blackadder. I'm assuming his as-yet-unseen-by-me turn in Scooby Doo isn't going to change my mind on this.

also i love 4w&af, even if only for the "bride or groom?" "it should be perfectly obvious i'm neither!" / "charles died twenty years ago!" "must be a different charles." "are you telling me i don't know my own brother?!" dude. yes, andie mcdowell is k-irritating.

and i will still cry when whatsisname dies, and when thingummy does wh auden at the funeral.

Rowan Atkinson apparently was in Hot Shots part Deux, which is a good film that I can remember no specific details about.

(Simon Callow, Andrew, you menk)

*ok maybe second best, after julie christie & donald sutherland in don't look now. even his appalling 'tache doesn't spoil it.

yep exactly, i'm kind of impressed that he signed up to play this horrible shitbag who is basically rowan atkinson. isn't he even called ron anderson or something? lol just thinking about jeff goldblum's response when he fires him: "i hope all you children have very small dicks! and that includes the girls!" also the cartwheels in front of the moon. aw, aw, aw. oh god, now i want to watch it. i have it, somewhere...

Emsk, you're making me want to watch it now too. And I don't have it anywhere :-/

ahem.

"cor blimey guv, it's a real pea-souper"

"TAKE A DEEP BREATH, PREPARE FOR THE WORST... THE UGLIEST MAN IN THE U-NI-VEEERRSE!"

"just when you think you know him... it turns out, he's packing his... truuuuunk"

"somewhere! up in heaven! there's an angel! with! big! EEEEAARS!"

OH GOD THIS FILM IS AWESOME

kate i do not believe you have no sense of humour; you know this. and yeh gb is sort of cuet in this.

Etc. etc.

(I think this may be the highlight of Emma Thompson's career too, Oscars or no)

ailsa, yes, any time you like! er let me find it first before you book any tickets though. gooblar you must come too. if i can't find it i'm just gonna buy it again. um after i've actually got some more work and done the work and been paid for it :/

I am just mentioning it here, but anyway. In December, Wiz, the singer out of Mega City Four, died of a blood clot on the brain. On March 4th at the Islington Academy there is a tribute gig in his honour featuring Neds, carter, Midway Still, Senseless Things et al. I am going to go to it - I thought maybe 1 or 2 of you might be interested in going too.

sande is a SUPERSTAR, my god. wicked, WICKED night. odd little venue, the bands play in a hole in the floor. if the sound wasn't shit it would be really cool... fully intended to go home immediately after stuffy/the fuses but got dancing with sande to the pretenders and amy winehouse and chatting with stuffy (he has new hair and it suits him) and ended up leaving at 2.30 :/ lovely lovely ride home though, through deserted london!

yay ailsafap!

Or, if Ailsa will be staying at my gaff after AilsaFAP...

do you have a video player? my copy is on old-fangled video.

The bit where Emma Thom chucks him and one of the bits of evidence was that He handed his co-star (in the musical) a drink while she was talking to someone and she didn't say thanks or acknowledge.

So, I sort of tried it out in a pub friday, got the round in and handed my girl colleague hers while she was chatting, to the same effect. So, no you don't have to have 'been intimate' for that to happen.

Wether that started the rumours about us, however, I can't say.

What's everyone doing at the weekend then?

tonight i am staying in doing a 6ft under marathon, with some gurls. tomorrow morning i might try and get a free massage off camden council, depending on what time i get up. or i might swing by a friend's exhibition on the souf bank somewhere. or both. then i am going to a posh party in oxford - not a really posh party, but linda the finn is sick of everyone being bundled up and wearing scarves - we are not glamorous enough for her - so she's having a dress posh party. any oxforders want to come? then sunday is kaet's burns night/housiversary thingy.

Which part? You might be able to say hello to my mum for me.

do you have a video player? my copy is on old-fangled video.

Dude, you know I do, that's why I have yr copy of Spice World! Not that I've watched it yet...

Yeah, I saw the film again some time after the 'incident', and she says "have to know someone really well to do that" rather than "you must have dun it".
1) I did/do know the person well enough and everyone would know that.
2) the other evidence was he'd pause when saying her name (which is totally rub, why would you do that, even subconsiously?)
3) It's a team of actors, they get to know each other very quickly in that situation, it doesn't mean they're all having group sex (see the 'pretendy partner' thread)

yay beni! it's the same w/e as glastonbury is it? i want to go to that crazyass one in the faroe islands that charlie no. 4 went to last year, but if they keep doing it the same w/e as truck it's never gonna happen.

Dude, you know I do, that's why I have yr copy of Spice World! Not that I've watched it yet...

and you know i do not remember stuff like this! also WATCH SPICEWORLD! it is tops.

2) the other evidence was he'd pause when saying her name (which is totally rub, why would you do that, even subconsiously?)

she says it's because you're worried you may have given something away, no? (have i seen this film way too many times? yes i have.) this one i think has a kernel of truth in it.

Good gossip and chatter and catching up and all that. And some decisions made and stuff sorted out. Hurrah!

I am sorry I missed Sande, but that was very fun and very necessary.

Tonight : School music quiz. Our team 'The Cracked Actors' are defending champs and we have to win it again. One of our number, who specialises in musicals and jazz, has dropped out at the last minute, so we're going to struggle a bit on those questions. That might nobble us.

Saturday : Rugby possibly, depends on pitches. Evening : curry and beer night with good friends F and R. Normally we spend all the time in the pub arguing about which curry house we will go to. Mrs Dr.C and F prefer this posh nouveau place where you sit in a reception area reading Tatler and drinking cocktails before going in. Me and R prefer something more old skool. Anyone want to guess who will win?

Sunday : dunno - nothing much I hope.

Now I'm hungry!

Tomorrow I am getting ready for my party, going SHOPPING to spend my bonus (I want a vaccuum cleaner, a scanner and some bookshelves) then re-starting work on the great lost Shimura Curves album.

And then Sunday is my party, hurrah! I am pretty excited. I just have to remember to just prepare all the curry in advance so that I don't have to do anything but enjoy myself.

I want the purple vaccuum cleaner with the clear bit where you see all the dust accumulating. I think it was a Dyson, actually.

Scanner - PC World? Staff not totally clueless like Dixons, Currys etc.

I wouldn't buy a scanner from Argos, though. I want to look at it. Maybe I'll go over to Wimbledon and shop, I like Wimbledon. I think there's a PC World there - or on the way on the bus at least.

x-post oh, I don't want to go into town! I need to do this Down South so transport home is easy!

http://www.johnlewis.com/jl_assets/gallery/230404102.jpg

The portable telly in the kitchen packed up last night, so I shall be buying a new one of those this weekend. It's nice to have it on in the background while I potter about doing cooking etc, and the kids watch it as they prefer to have their tea in the kitchen rather than the dining room. I don't know what to get though - I looked at the Argos book this morning, and there are either (a) v cheap ones (b) slightly more expensive ones with freeview already magically inside them or (c) pricier ones which have no freeview but have an inbuilt DVD player. Decisions, decisions ......

In my experience of other people's 'puters, "fixing" them usually makes them much much worse! I need my computer functional on the level that it is, without upgrades, more than I need to view Torchwood.

tee hee

the other evidence was he'd pause when saying her name

sorry, but I pause before I say people's name, generally cos I can't remember it, but I'm not shagging everyone, although 80% of the time I wish I was.

I might come to your poshness on Saturday emsk if I may - I'll wear my tux if it's super-posh-time! Tho I may have saved myself for a housemate's something, so I'm not shure. I'll txt you?

And I haven't seen tall guy film so I can't comment. 4W&F is freshly painted beige. Love Actually is the worst film I have ever seen. But I don't like Father Ted, so my funny bone may be as broken as Kate's.

Yes, chopping help would be great, JB!

Exciting day today - I bought a kettle. Haven't owned an electric one for years but having to warm up bottles for Alice while she screams accusingly in the background convinced me of the necessity of faster boiling.

No big plans for the weekend either, just a friend's housewarming tomorrow night. Then up to London again on Monday to Guys so Alice can have a plate fitted in her mouth to prepare for her first bit of surgery. No doubt she will LOVE the experience :(

Meanwhile I've been watching the second series of 24 and already wondering what's the point. I can't believe they've now stretched it out to 6 or 7 seasons or whatever it is. Recommend me a good tv show I can get immersed in please (and can ahem ahem watch online preferably).

It's fantastic seeing them grow and stuff, but my overwhelming memeory is of brutal, endless exhaustion.

Hope all goes well at Guys.

Heard good things about: House, aforementioned 6 Feet Under, The Shield.

Soprano's really good, West Wing up to the point where Aaron Sorkin leaves.