Posts from January 2008

Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. Growing up in the States in the 1950s. This opening (recursive) quote sets the tone beautifully

The State Senate of Illinois yesterday disbanded its Committee on Efficiency and Economy 'for reasons of efficiency and economy' - Des Moines Tribune, 6 February 1955

Watching: This is England. Growing up in England in the 1980's. A superb film.

REM - Country Feedback

Crazy, all the lovers have been tagged.

Yesterday, Norma collided with another car in a SW London rat-run.

The lady took Normas details. I mourned taking out a high excess (£250). We were both thankful no-one was hurt, then I flew to Newcastle and forgot all about it.

This evening, I spent 45 minutes on the phone discussing the fact that nothing had happened

• The lady never called.
• The insurance company never called.
• Nothing actually happened.

Nothing else was discussed. Why did this call take 45 minutes ?

Tagged by Tim Hall.

1. In my first year at University, I had a lecturer who was male. When I returned for my second year, he was a woman.
2. My first brush with the police was at 14 when I crossed Chester Road against police orders and a copper said ‘Think that’s funny, eh ? Would you still think it’s funny if I took you into that van and kicked your head in ?’
3. I have seen United win (1977), draw (1983) and lose (1995) in an FA Cup Final.
4. The Hillsborough disaster saddened me but when The Independent posted photographs of people crushed against metal fences, gasping for breath, dying, I broke down and cried like a baby.
5. Most of the people I care about now live in Australia. Slowly but surely, I am getting the message.
6. I am the only person in my family not to have broken a limb.
7. I have stood on the top of Ayers Rock.
8. I joined a gym on 1 December 2007. Since then I have lost 1 stone q but I’m sure it will turn up somewhere.

After thoroughly enjoying watching Arsenal defeat Sunderland at the Emirates, I resolved to get off my barstool and try to get to see more live football in 2008.

Consequently, I have just purchased two tickets (South Level 5) for England versus Switzerland in a friendly on Wednesday 6 February.

Of course, I already know what the outcome will be but I am keen to visit the new Wembley Stadium and show Norman Junior what real England supporters are like.

Whatever next - a United away perhaps.

• Upgraded to WordPress 2.3.2
• Plaintxt theme upgraded to v4.0. The main change is tag support which I dont currently use.
• Reinstated the 'Related Posts' plugin because I couldn't understand why people looking for information on Virgin Media/V+ don't scan other relevant posts. Already seeing a benefit.
• Added useful plugin to support embedded YouTube videos to liven up my monochrome posts.

Not many things make me laugh out loud. Especially about Oracle.

With enough preparation, a Siebel installation (Next-Next-Next) could use a similar technique which is something I would dearly love to accomplish.

You can take the lad out of Liverpool but you cant take Liverpool out of the lad.

Not so much a walled garden as a high security prison with barbed wire and electric fences.