Everybody's changing

Move on, move on, there's nothing to see here!

Why not go here instead:

Ademweb.co.uk/blog

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Get used to one style and you know I might switch

Whilst I've been sat indoors with my leg up I've been working on a new blog, and will hopefully be able to migrate over pretty soon. I'm going to switch from Blogger over to Wordpress hosted on my own webspace.

I like Wordpress and have several other sites running on it so I know what it can do, and so it shouldn't be too hard to change over, although I'll see how it copes with almost 3 years worth of archives.

What I'm trying to do though is get the site completely sorted, make the template look pretty before I switch over so that you can all bask in the glory of it!

More news to come.

The only difference that I can see, is you are exactly the same as you used to be

Knee update:

Good Knee:


Bad Knee:

And I been in the hospital

I've had quite a few different injuries in my time but I can usually diagnose them myself as nothing more than strains, sprains, and pulls, but after my knee injury I thought it was best to go to hospital to get it checked out as it had swollen up a great amount and I could hardly walk.

My kind sister drove me to Accident & Emergency yesterday at midday, and after 2 hours of waiting I was called in. They examined it and said that they'd give me a x-ray to check there wasn't a fracture and see how much fluid there was on the joint. Apart from the long wait, I thought they were very nice in there, although I was slightly disappointed by the nurses' uniforms! The doctor treating me looked at the x-rays and told me there was no fracture (which I didn't think there was) and also said that luckily there wasn't a huge amount of fluid and so it wouldn't need to be drained (phew). She told me that what I needed to do was rest it completely and she gave me a strap to put on it to compress it and limit movement. I was also told that if I did try and do anything on it then I'd probably rupture my ligaments (a very bad thing), but as I can't really move without the aid of a crutch then that's highly unlikely.

With only 3 games left of the Sunday League season, I'll miss out on that too, and don't really know how long I'll be out for. I can't drive for the moment either, but am hoping that the swelling goes down soon then maybe I'll be able to operate the clutch. I'm off work until Thursday on holiday, but will just spend that time resting the knee and not really getting up to much, which is a tad annoying as I had a lot more planned for Easter (I've already missed out on the Beer Festival.)

That's the update for now...... Happy Easter everyone!

Debbi was the girl who used to do it like a bunny

It's now 5:30am...... Groove Armada have a new single out, and it's exactly the type of thing to get me going at the IOW Festival.

In another post I said this:

I like Groove Armada (a poorman's Bassment Jaxx?)

And was soon put right in the comments. On the strength of this release I'm more than happy to be seeing them. I like it and a funny video too.

Dance like a robot when you're chained at the knee

It's just gone 4am and I'm here sitting on my sofa, watching BBC News 24, and catching up with emails, etc that I missed yesterday when I was at the Rugby Sevens.

Why am I up at this time? Well obviously I can't sleep, but the reason is that I've f**ked my knee up, to put it politely. Rugby was fun even though we lost both our games, but it was a lovely day, lots of people were there, and everyone was merry, but I seemed to be intent on injuring myself.

In the first game I scored a try, but landed awkwardly on the had surface, hurting my knee. I subbed myself off (no innuendos please) and gave myself 5 minutes before coming back on (always a wise move to try and play on), I then got tackled by two players and as Iwas releasing the ball, Ian followed by someone landed on my head, compacting my neck. Off I go again for the rest of the game!

We had over an hour until our next game, and I decided that I'd take part but only for the 2nd half (these are 7 minute halfs in Sevens). I came on and was doing alright, deciding to fight through any pain because Sevens is only once a year, and then with 1 minute left I went o a run, skipped through one tackle, and then got dumped by a high tackle 5 metres from the try-line and landed on my knee again, and we didn't even get a penalty-try for the foul!

I came off glad that the games were over, and whilst I was still walking around I only had a slight hobble and so I was mostly fine for the rest of the afternoon. We all then went out in Broadstairs for the evening, and as the night got on, my knee got worse, especially when I wasn't moving and just standing still or sitting, so that when it came to go home I was not very mobile, and by the time I was actually at home my knee was killing, and I discovered that it had swollen up loads. I was in bed by 11:30, with my a pillow under my knee and some ice on it, and so I spent the next 4 hours drifting in and out of sleep, but unable to move to get comfortable.

Can you tell which one is swollen?!

I couldn't walk when I got up as the knee had completely seized up, and so made a makeshift crutch with the bar from my weights!! And here we are! I'm thinking of going to A+E tomorrow to try and get hold of some crutches so I can walk and get the weight off my knee.

At least I got to play rugby after recovering from the cold and dodgy neck!! (neck isn't too bad by the way.)

--------------------------------------------
10am Update: I got to sleep at 8am and got 1.5 hours sleep which I needed. When I woke up flickr had finished uploading my photos which you can see here.

It was acceptable in the 80s

I know this has been out for quite a while but I still love it and can often be caught singing along to it. Enjoy.

I know I get a few 'foreigners' to the blog, and I sometimes wonder if they've heard songs I put up here. I guess what I'm talking about is that nowadays, globalisation, digital age, et al, means that we are getting smaller and a lot of things are international in their appeal, music being the main one. Get what I mean?

She’s on fire

I've taken these few days off before Easter as holiday from work, as it was pretty quiet and I wasn't needed so hey ho, a free day!!

I cycled down to Ramsgate town in order to get a few bits and bobs from the £1 Charity Shop and was greeted with a cordoned off street. Weird, I though and presumed that maybe there was some kind of affair going on, but then I noticed all the police (around 6 officers) patrolling the taped-off area, then an ambulance, and then also 2 fire-engines!

Blimey! Somethings gone down in Ramsgate, and it's name was Fire! Apparently one of the restaurants in Harbour Street was on fire (next to the Bakery), and so most of Harbour Street and Queen Street were out of bounds apart from a small area on Queen Street.

Smoke was billowing from the top of the building, and the fire-engine's ladder was a full-extension enabling the firemen to try and control the fire, but from where I was, there was a lot of smoke and it could be a lot more trouble controlling the fire, especially as all the buildings are terraced.

I wish I'd had my camera with me, but alas I am no Peter Parker.

That's all from this Ramsgate Reporter today.

Bring to me my big old sweater, Nothing more will make me better

As you know, I've been a wee bit poorly, but nothing too harsh, it's just annoying. I'm almost over the cold and should be completely fine over the next few days. As colds go it wasn't too bad, just sneezing, runny nose, and a bit of a high temperature, but I didn't feel that ill. The neck ache is a different matter and is still there, as it has been since Wednesday, but is getting a little better every day. The pain has now moved from my actual neck muscles to the muscles at the base of my neck and back, and all I'm hoping is that it's all fine by Friday which is when I play Rugby.

I was hoping to be in tip-top shape for Rugby as I'd been dieting and getting more exercise, but this week has wiped me out and I haven't been to the gym or football and so I'm hoping to get a few more sessions in over the week but this will all depend on the neck but I'm sure I'll be fine.

You will be happy to hear though that after last week's shennanigans, I haven't touched alcohol and haven't even been out, instead staying indoors and getting my rest.

In other news I finally got my composter at a very cheap price. As well as metals, plastics, paper, and glass, I can now be doing my bit and more of my 'rubbish' will be recycled. It'll take 6-9 months for it to all break down but then....lovely compost will be mine!

So tell me can you feel the madskills comin' wid da fever, fever, fever.

For the past 2 days I've felt crap. I've got a cold and I've also pulled a muscle in my neck. This has meant that I've not gone to the gym and I've had to miss football tonight.

I think the cold is breaking, and I got some Deep Heat to rub on my neck, so hopefully I'll be fine for the weekend, on which I'll incidently not be drinking.... Hurrah! I'm driving on Friday, and I've got no plans on Saturday so a much needed rest will be in order.

How are you?

Please allow me to introduce myself

Big news for the Isle of Wight Festival, which I'll be going to in June. After weeks and weeks of speculation the Rolling Stones have finally been confirmed as the Sunday Night Headliners! It's a real coup for the festival and I am really excited that I'll get to see the Stones who, you have to admit, are one of the biggest bands in the world (and the oldest!). It really spices up the event as quite a lot of the bands are a bit MOR, and although good, the Stones should hopefully play some real classics.

Also added to the line-up are Groove Armada, for the Friday night, which will add a dance element to the evening. I like Groove Armada (a poorman's Bassment Jaxx?) and will be hoping that another big 'dance' act gets added to the bill. I'd actually like to see Mylo...we'll see.....

Ode to Jose the curse of Cuervo

I haven't spoken about the diet for a while so let's catch up with that. I was losing quite a lot of weight at first and in the first 2 weeks had lost 12 pounds, which I was really happy with. I was sticking to the diet religiously, but then over the past 2 weeks I've not been faring too well and the 'little treats' have snuck back in here and there.

Before I was having 1 evening off the diet a week, usually a Friday, and would invariably have a nice big dinner and have a fair few vodkas. But lately I've been having big weekends, drinking too much and put on a couple of pounds over the weekends, and then lose them over the week. So I'm not in a worse position but I have halted on the weightloss, yo-yo-ing those couple of pounds.

On Friday I went out with Uni friends as it was their last night of term and I drank A LOT. Beer, Ale, Vodka, Wine, Alcopops, Sambuca, Aftershock..... too much, and I went night-clubbing till 2:30am.

Then on Saturday it was Katie's Birthday, and I stuck to Vodka and Diet coke for the majority of the night and then had several Desperados (Beer with Tequila in it!). Not too bad, but merry enough, and then in the early hours the clocks went forward and so it was 3:30am when I got home, and I had to be up at 8:45am for football!

I did manage to get up for football but had a stinking hangover, and then I played 90 minutes of football. I enjoyed the football and it took my mind off the hangover, but once I'd finished I felt rough again and it basically wasted my entire day.

It's only 10 days till the Rugby Sevens so I'll stick to the diet for that time and see if I can lose a few more pounds, so just the 1 night out a week for me now. I'm definitely doing more exercise now so it's not all bad, and I do feel fitter which is always a good thing.

Caught by the fuzz

I nipped out this evening to watch Hot Fuzz as it's only on at the local cinema until tomorrow night. When I got there I realised that the cinema was full of teenage Italian students, all who didn't seem to have control of their volumes! Arrgghh!! It's not what I want from the cinema and had a horrible feeling that they would be nattering throughtout the whole film but luckily their tutor gave a speech at the beginning and they were quiet most of the time.

I enjoyed the film greatly.

I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram, on a silver black phantom bike.

I was in a Motorbike shop with Chris from Uni, who has his own bike, and we were looking at some of the models and I asked the shop assistant how much one of them was. "£1600" was the reply, and guess what? I bought it there and then, whacked it on my creditcard and took it away with me.

I don't know what came over me to be so impulsive but I did and only after did I think of the consequences as I've still got my car and now a big bill on the Barclaycard. Chris showed me some of the padded protective clothing that he uses, and recommended some to me, and that was about it. Next thing I know I'm going for a spin.

The Bike took a bit of getting used to, especially the gears, and I was having trouble with the throttle, but it was still cool, and I was wondering if I could sell the car to get back a bit of cash.

I did a few other things yesterday too, I bought a new watch, only a tenner, and I bought this really cool deodorant which had a radio built in...cool!

All in all a very good day......and then I woke up.....yes it was all a dream, no motorbike, no watch, no magic deodorant can, and all I can say is "thank f**k!".

What the hell was I going to do with a motorbike?! I can't even drive one let alone afford it!

It was still nice to have a bit of escapism dreaming, instead of no dreams at all, and I can say that I will not be getting a motorbike anytime soon.

He's too stoned, Nintendo, I wish that I could make her see, she's just the flavor of the weak

I got to play with the Wii on Friday and Saturday and it was very fun (no I'm not into watersports, it's the new console from Nintendo.)

I especially enjoyed the Boxing game and you can see me in action below (apologies for the angle of the video, but may I recommend you turn your monitor on its side for this bit.)

Although the graphics weren't amazing, poor even, it's the gameplay that counts and the new use of the controllers really added to the experience. If you get the chance give it a go.

Stacy, can I come over after school?

So I haven't posted since Monday and I feel it's about time I put up a post. I could tell you how I scored a goal for the University, or how I've just been to the pub on a 'school night', but instead Ill tell you that I've just turned on the TV and on Five US the film "Mo' Money" is on and a quick seach of imdb tells me that Stacey Dash is the hot female lead. Now I know her from her "Clueless" days and have to say that she is hot, but I was shocked to find that she was in her 40s now! I guess that's the miracle of film, that people can stay eternally youthful.

Anyway off to bed now.......

Ice ice baby

On Saturday evening I caught a bit of the late-night replay of Dancing on Ice and f**k me was I amazed! I don't watch the show, but I know what it's all about, and the display by Kyran Bracken and his professional skate partner Melaine was brilliant.

The premise of the show is that celebrity novice skaters pair up with professionals and get voted out each week based on their perfomances, and at this rate Kyran should win it. For those of you that are unaware, Kyran Bracken is a former Rugby player so isn't well known for his skating abilities.

Go outside and ride your bike

Yummy, I've just had my treat of the weekend and made a curry, but I think I deserve it. I've been doing more exercise including a 2.5 hour session of football on Thursday and then today I went for a nice bike ride (8.76 miles) to Broadstairs to watch Thanet Wanderers play rugby. I went to the casino again this weekend and finished £25 up which paid for my night last night.

I took my camera along to the rugby this afternoon and it was nice to take some shots of something a bit different. You can see the Flickr set here.

Football is off tomorrow so I'm going to go to the bootfair to see how it all works, and then in a few weeks time I'll hopefully be selling my own stuff. It's nice when you actually do stuff at the weekend instead of vegging out isn't it?

It's so nice I had to name it twice

Last month on Dragon's Den, a guy called Levi Roots (real name Keith) managed to get the Dragons to invest £50,000 in his 'Reggae Reggae' sauce. I don't usually watch the programme but he had a very infectious attitude and persona, and with that had the possibilty of being a success.

It comes as no surprise that the sauce will now be on sale in 600 Sainsburys stores (see here) around the UK, and will no doubt be marketed along with his song. Hey, I might even buy a bottle! Check out the video below...

Like a fish needs a bicycle

I went to the gym today for the first time since last Thursday. No, I haven't been slacking, the gym was closed all over the weekend due to a water problem, and it only opened again this morning.

Sadly the pool was still shut, along with the showers(!) so I had to come home all stinky, and I didn't do too much except cycle (11km) and a few weights.

That's all really.

Had fish for dinner tonight as I wanted a break from the norm and had some cod and some salmon which were reduced in Tesco. I always grill fish, and the salmon was lovely as usual but the cod was disappointing and bland. I think the cod either has to be battered or with a sauce, both of with are not options in the diet.

Am I becoming a bit two-dimensional with all this talk of diets and fitness? What happened to the beer swilling Adem? Am I 'Fun Bobby'?! I don't think so.

In other news I bought a few DVDs yesterday in a Tesco 3 for £15 offer: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman, and Napoleon Dynamite.

And if I'm starving, you can feed me lollipops

I bought some electronic scales on Saturday so that I could monitor my weightloss at home, and I've got to say that the body is a very odd thing. It's amazing how much bodyweight can fluctuate throughout the day with my weight shifting by as much as 6 pounds between the morning and the evening.

I've now taken to only recording my morning weight as the majority of the variables are fixed. I will always be wearing the same clothes (boxers and t-shirt) and won't have had anything to eat yet. Even this isn't fool proof though as my weight was 4 pounds lighter this morning than yesterday morning, and I doubt I've lost that much!

These daily weigh-ins are good and I record them, but in reality it will only be my target end-weight compared to my start weight that will matter, and as that is a larger amount then the small differences and fluctuations won't matter and are only a small percentage of the loss.

I've basically set myself 6 months to get fit, which is how long my free gym membership lasts, but I've got a few goals along the way that I need to lose weight for, which are the Rugby Sevens tournament in 1 month, and the Isle of Wight Festival in 3 months.

In reality, the gym won't make too much of a difference but it will be my diet that does, and apart from a few treats this weekend (the fry-up + and a small slice of pizza after football) I've stuck to it very well. I've also stopped snacking, which I only did out of boredom, and now just stick to my meals. Aren't I being good?! Are you bored yet?

I blame you for the moonlit sky

Tonight/this morning there has been a total lunar eclipse, the first for more than 3 years, and it's pretty amazing stuff. Basically the moon has been fully immersed in the shadow of the Earth.

You can read more about the actual nature of it all and how it works by reading the BBC article here.

I did manage to take a few photos and had to use my tripod to get any clarity. I also had my binoculars out to get a better view.

Here's what it looked like:

[you can see the original photo here]

I really like it that I can actually see details of the surface of the moon when it would ordinarily be too bright to work with my camera.

Did anyone else see it?

In the nighttime, In the storm, In the casino

It's 3:15am as I type this, and I've been out (why else would I be up at this time?)

As I said in my earlier post, I was going to cut out on the beer and I think I did pretty well as I only had 1 pint tonight (and that was shit Fosters). I did however have 1 gin and slimline tonic, which was OK but not billiant and so I switched over to the vodkas, house doubles with Diet Coke to be exact, and I had 4 of them, so all in all I think I did probably have less calories from them as opposed to me have the 8 pints I probably would have had.

We went the Tavern, the Queens Head, the Red Lion, the Port & Anchor, and then to the Jazz Room, and on to the casino.

I did fall off the wagon though as I was in the casino with Ant, Paul, and Tom, and they decided to get cooked breakfasts and I caved in. Naughty me, but still not too bad in the whole scheme of things, as I probably would've had the breakfast anyway on top of all the beers. I'll definitely be going to the gym tomorrow to burn off a few more calories.

I did have fun at the casino though as I used £10 as stake on the Blackjack and took away £35, so £25 profit which basically paid for my night. My best bit was betting £16 on a single hand and winning. It was fun. I was a little higher on the prize fund but had a little bet at the end which lost me a fiver.

Anyway, off to bed now me thinks as it's now 3:25am and I'm tired(ish). Laters!

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

I was watching the end of Scrubs this evening and you know the bit at the end where JD gives some meaningful message? Well this song was playing over it (see here), covered by Ted's Barbershop Quartet. Lovely, although don't listen to it too much or you will get a little depressed. The artist is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole....he's dead now.

Sippin on gin and juice

So it's Friday afternoon and I can't wait for the weekend, although I don't think much is going on. If I do go out I will have to cut down on the beer. I'm thinking of maybe turning to Gin and slimline tonic, or maybe just no alcohol at all (yeah right).

I played football last night on astroturf and I felt a lot fitter. I know it sounds stupid as I've only had a few days of watching my weight and getting extra exercise, but I did feel better. I'm sure a lot of it is psychological, but even if it's just that it's still good. I ran around for a hour there and was a bit knackered but I still managed to go straight up to the gym and go for a bit of a swim, steam and jacuzzi. I didn't want to do anythin in the gym as I probable would've hurt myself as I'd only just warmed down from footy and was likely to pull something if I started back up again. A swim was nice though and my arms were a bit achy this morning which menas I was doing something right.

I might have to invest in a pair of weighing scales for myself as I've weighed myself a couple of times and the weights keep varying by around 1/2 a stone, which is a lot! If I get one pair for myself then at least, even if they are wrong, they are always wrong by the same amount. I think a trip to Argos is called for.

On the blogging front, I am just being a voyeur, and looking around at people's blogs but not commenting, so don't think that I'm not visiting because I am!

Is it worth it, let me work it

I went to the gym this evening. Very nice. I especially enjoyed the steam room. What's that you say? I'm meant to be working out? whoops. ( I did cycle about 4 kms, run 1km, cross train 1km... so not all bad. Just really a chance to try out all the equipment.)

Lip up fatty, ah lip up fatty, for the reggae

I don't usually weigh myself, as I don't have any scales, and I generally don't think that weight strictly correlates with fitness, and don't agree with those height/weight Body Mass Index charts that people use, as there is no real uniform rule to people.

One thing I do know is that I've put on a hell of a lot of weight over the past few years, basically since I was an adult. From my 5 years at University (as a student and staff) I put on around 2 stone, and although I knew I'd put on more weight since being back in Ramsgate it seems that I've put on a further 2 stone in the past 2.5 years. Holy Shit.

I'm generally quite active getting in around 2.5 hours of pure sport in a week, but I know that where I slip up on is food and drink. I don't neccesarily eat bad food, but I know my portions are too large and that I eat too much bread. For the past 3 days I've been watching what I eat and basically limiting portions to something acceptable. I do feel hungry sometimes, but haven't caved in with the easy option and have instead been munching away on things like celery in between meals.

I've also been making my own lunch in the mornings to take to work. I used to pop over to newsagents across the road from my office and grab a baguette (chicken and mayo) along with bag of crisps, and do I really need all those calories when I'm sitting on my arse at a computer? No. Instead I haven't gone too mad and have instead taken in a cheese and tomato sandwich (2 slices of bread with thinly cut cheese), a piece of fruit, and 2 sticks of celery. There may be something healthier than the cheese but at least it's got some flavour.

Not only is it healthier but it's also cheaper and saves me around £3 a day on lunch.

Along with the diet, I've also signed up to the gym, although I know that the diet is the most important part for me. I was thinking about joining the gym anyway, but have managed to get free membership for 6 months, which is pretty cool, and something not to miss out on. The gym has all the usual stuff plus a swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, steamroom, so I can just relax if needs be.

I meant to do all this a lot sooner, but it was this Sunday that kicked it off. I was around a friends house watching the football when we decided to have a quick weigh-in and I was shocked by mine along with another friends. We have basically put on the same amount of weight in the same amount of time and so we have set up a challenge. We are both quite competitive and so have set up a challenge against each other to see who can lose the most weight over the next 6 months. Don't worry, we certainly won't be getting eating disorders but now that we are at the same gym too it'll be good to have somebody to compete against as this kind of thing can get pretty lonely and boring in a short time.

Also to measure my weight I've registered here so that I can keep accurate readings and see how I'm progressing.

I'm only 3 days in so I don't expect anything too quick, and have still got to contend with weekends, but here goes.

99 bottles of beer on the wall

Can I point you over to here?

I've joined a blog about Beer! Look forward to reviews of beer from around the world (the US and the UK at the moment). You can see my reviews here.

It's nice to think that my beer consumption is going towards something constructive!

Woke up cold one tuesday

Here's Paolo Nutini (Who'll be at the Isle of Wight Festival). I need to start listening to some of the acts I'm less familiar with so here goes:

All I wanna do is rock

I'm really excited!!! Do you know why? I've just booked my holiday for the summer. I'm off to a little island not too far away.

I'm going to....

The Isle of Wight Festival!!

I have never been to a festival like this before, and Glastonbury always seems like a lot of effort, especially with the high demand for tickets, so when they announced the line-up earlier this week I decided that I'd go.

I sent an email out to see who else was up for it and there are 8 of us that will be going. I really like the line-up: Snow Patrol, Muse, Kasabian, Keane, Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Wolfmother, Paolo Nutini, The Feeling & Ash so far.

Tickets cost £125 (+£10 from the agents) each, but I think it's well worth it for 3 days of music. Of course I've got to add on travel, the ferry, and all the beer food etc. But it'll be worth it. I've sometimes spent that on a weekend by just going to the local!

One the emails I sent around a lot of people were moaning that it wouldn't be as good as Glastonbury, etc, but I couldn't give a toss. I know Glastonbury is 'the' festival but I'd rather go somewhere a bit smaller and be able to see all the acts I want too, and also be able to buy tickets without being interogated by the Gestapo. Another reason is that I really don't go for the whole festival vibe that seems to come out of Glastonbury. I don't do drugs, I don't want to see all the 'hippy' stuff, I just want to rock out and the line-up is definitely my type of music.

I can't believe I have to wait over 3 months to go though!! I hope it's sunny.

Is that where it ends, with your life thru a lens?

You should all know by now that I love taking photos, and the majority of them are proudly displayed on flickr, but I did something yesterday that I haven't done for years. I got some photos developed!

There is something about having an actual physical photograph in your hand as opposed to viewing them on a screen and I really think I need to get more of my photo sets developed too.

One reason I did this was because it was free, and as you know, I love free stuff. Photobox.co.uk are doing a promotion whereby when you register you get 30 free photos, and if you follow this link and use the promotional code "20EXTRA", then you can get 50 free photos in total.

It's a simple case of uploading your photos into a set, and then selecting to print them (you will need that promotional code now). I did this for 50 photos, and only had to pay the £1.50 postage, and the photos came the next day.

The prices are actually very good, and although you may be able to save a few pence on each print by physically going into Boots, this does remove the hassle of having to go there, drop them off, and come back the next day to pick them up. Instead they were delivered to my door. Easy.

This is also a great way to have a physical back-up of all those digital files that we hope will be safe for ever, but can't be too sure about. At least this way if it goes all apocalyptic Rise of the Machines stylee then I'll have some nice memories.

(I've also blogged about this here)

It's oh so quiet

I haven't got anything to write about for the moment....so please excuse me.

A little bit of history repeating

So this is Christmas Monday and what have you done? Well at the weekend I did bugger all. I went out on Friday night and that was it really. Done. Nuff said. Some things never change.

Anyway here's something I've been singing along to lately:



I like the video too. odd.

Sunday Sunday here again

Following on from yesterday's post I've been at it again, and this time it's Chris who get's the treatment:

(click the image to see a full-size version on Flickr)

It was a lot easier this time but there's still some bits I'd definitely improve next time. You can see the original photo here.

There's still the competition from yesterday too, and I'm still open for questions.

Paint my face in your magazines

I've been using Photoshop quite a bit at work lately but only for making posters, banners etc, and nothing amazingly creative, but it did get me in the mood and so I've been playing.

It was my mate Ian's 24th Birthday yesterday and I usually like to personally make something for people's birthdays (see here & here) so I thought I'd make him an arty portrait and here is the result:

(click the image to see larger version on Flickr)

You can see the original photo here and I must say I'm very happy with it and I feel confident enough to try some more and get even better results (I know there are bits that can be improved). What I like about Photoshop is that although I've been using it since 2002 and think I'm pretty good with it, there's always more to learn and there are some amazing tutorials out there. I actually got this tutorial from here although I usually get quite a few from here.

Do you like it? Would you like your own portrait? If you do then send me a message via the email address in my profile and tell me why I should.... Easy as that. I'll upload any I do to this blog (I need some content) and I'll send you a high-resolution copy for yourself.

Nothing can stop me now

Why don't you tell it like it really is?

I've been listing some old CDs on ebay, and one of them is Just Enough Education To Perform by the Stereophonics. Not only does it remind me of a cover band I once saw called the Monophonics, but also of a great song on the album.

and truth is in a tall beer

Who ever said romance was dead?

Out of college, money spent, see no future, pay no rent

I authorised my new HSBC credit card yesterday and then paid off another £200, meaning I've paid off £1,000 since October. I did mention that I was going to pay off a big lump sum this month as I'd been putting away a bit in savings, but as the card is interest free for another year, I decided it's be better to keep some in the savings account. In theory it doesn't actually matter where I keep the money as in an emergency I could just use the credit card, but somehow that seems a lot different.

I've been paying out a lot lately, and so it comes as no surprise that the roof lost some tiles in the recent bad weather and has caused quite a few more to come loose. This means that the roof needs to be re-tiled and so yet more money to be spent. Regulars here should remember that I live at home with my mum, and so I'm sure we'll split the cost somehow. I like to pay my way and as well as the usual £120 per month rent, I also buy other things, such as radiators, for the house, and will help out where I can.

I moved back home in 2004 after living away for 5 years, and only envisaged being there for a short time, but my Grandma, who lived there too, was very ill and passed away over the Christmas period. That left just my Mum at home, and then my move became permanent. I was happy I'd moved back then though as I couldn't have bared it if I'd been away and missed the last few months of my Grandma's life.

It's a funny situation to be in at home, because I do have my own flat on the back of the house (living room, bedroom, bathroom), and can remain quite separate, which is what I like, but my mum does get lonely and I try and take this into consideration by going into her part to eat evening meals. I like to have my own space and due to the proximity I don't feel I do. I like to be messy, I like to not do the washing up, I like to let my clothes pile up until I have none left and am forced to use the washing machine, I like being able to shop for one, I like playing music loud, I like lots of things that I used to do when I lived on my own. My Mum would argue that I am self-contained and can do whatever I want but it is not true and as long as she comes in and tells me to tidy up, or she comes and does my washing, then I will continue to feel this way.

Obviously there are options. I sacrifice my true Independence for the pure fact that I have a roof over my head, which many do not. I could move out and rent somewhere but I would then be in a worse situation as I'd then have a landlord to report to... and I bet he wouldn't wash my dirty clothes! And of course that still leaves my mum, who would then be alone, in a big house, which used to have four residents but would then only have one, and I don't think I could do that to her. Well no for the moment.

The house is expensive to run, and I know that most of my Mum's wages go into keeping the bills payed, and so the solution would seem to be to move to somewhere smaller and use any profit on the house to pay off her debts and live comfortably, but move where?

This is big ol' cans of worms here, and there is no simple solution. I will stay at home because it is the best thing for both me and my Mum. Instead of getting into more debt by paying more rent, or getting my own house (with a huge mortgage), I know that I need to stay around for longer, and my Mum needs it too. Of course it's not just about money, although many of you who read regularly will think it is, as it seems that every other post I write is about it. I think a few changes need to be made, starting off with me reclaiming a few things, such as washing and ironing my clothes. I had no problem doing all this before, but somehow it's been transferred onto Mum. Yes I do stuff for her, like being her chauffeur and doing all the cooking in the house, but I still don't think it all weighs up and she does too much.

OK. So from today I am reclaiming my laundry privileges, and please hold me to it, that is the first step to Independence for both me and my Mum. The next steps would seem to be moving out, but the smart thing is definitely to stay where I am, at least while the housing market is where it is, meaning that single first-time buyers can't afford to get a new home without risking a lot.

I think you've learnt quite a bit about me in that post as opposed to the usual reviews of nights out etc, and so in this time of sharing and opening up, I open the floor to any questions you may have. They may be simple or complex, and I don't guarantee that I'll answer them, but fire away in the comments section and you may learn something.

So stop your cheap comment, cos we know what we feel

Today has been a quiet day. I was working last night so I decided that today would be an easy going day at work and so as well as doing all the bits I have to, I've also been surfing around and making a few comments on the blogs on my blogroll.

I haven't been commenting that muchlately , simply having a quick browse at the posts that pop up on my feedreader, but thought I'd make the effort today.

It's like 10,000 spoons

I had a dream on Friday night that I was at a cash machine and was trying to put in my PIN but kept putting in the wrong number, and realised that the keys were not in standard formation. When I did put the correct pin in something happened and all my money in my account came out in one go! Shit! There was no way I wanted to be carrying around that amount of money and I went into the bank and tried to get them to sort it out as it wasn't my fault, but they wanted me to count it for them.

It was at that moment that I realised that I was counting crockery and cutlery and not money, and I was trying to figure out the denomination for each piece. I figured out that forks were worth £1, but what was the rest worth?? Were plates worth more? And would it add up properly?

And my dream ended there. odd.

I hurt myself today

My legs simply wouldn't work at Football tonight as I had terrible cramp in my calves. I played indoor football on Tuesday for 90 minutes, then played two 30 minute Ten-aside rugby matches on Wednesday, and then tonight was an hour of football on outside on astroturf.

It was yesterday's rugby that did me in though as I played with the Uni team at a friendly tournament in North London, and hadn't played for a while. There's definitely more running in Tens than there is in Fifteens rugby, and we played the matches in immediate succession. We spent 2 hours on the minibus getting back to Broadstairs and then I went on the town with the team to watch the remainder of the Arsenal vs Spurs match (got to the pub after 35 mins and 0-0).

Arsenal won, which is always good, and then as I couldn't be bothered to go home I stayed on a sofa, a very small sofa, and that didn't help as it was only a 2-seater, and so I woke up with a very sore neck. Luckily the house is very near work and so I got into the office at 8:45am, grabbed a towel and had myself a nice shower before work.

And that was yesterday.

(here I am running with the ball)

What you gonna do with all that junk?

I have too many possessions, too much clutter, too much crap.

I must change this.

Ebay, Freecycle, and charity shops....... help me!!

You and your friends, in boxes of ten

I think I told you that I'd be invited to go down to Chichester at the weekend, but already had plans here in Thanet, as is always the way.

Well on Thursday night I decided that my time would be better spent going to Chi as I only go down there a few times a year, and I can see my local friends whenever I want, and so at around 11:30am on Saturday I set off on my 135 mile trip to West Sussex. Now Kent isn't really that far from West Sussex, but I live of the most Eastern point, so that's what adds the miles on, but I don't actually mind the drive as it's pretty easy and I get to chill and listen to lots of music.... and stop off and take pictures of cows.

I arrived around 2pm and had a little drive around and popped up to the Uni to have a stroll around campus to see if anything had changed. Well a lot of it's changed and they've built some huge halls of residences, and it definitely looks a lot newer than when I was there (amazing what a lick of paint will do.)

I popped up to watch a bit of footy as the Uni team were playing and I saw Sid there, who runs the Sports at the University, and then I popped off at 3:30pm to meet up with Karen who was finishing work, and whose floor I would be kipping on. It was Karen's birthday the other week, and so she, along with Miffy and James who had also had recent birthdays, had decided to have a big meet-up and this was another reason for being in Chichester. The thing is that Karen had kinda forgotten and had a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, and had to leave soonsish and wouldn't be back 'til 11ish, and so I headed off on my own down the town to indulge in some nostalgia. I text a few people but they were'nt gonna be around 'til the evening and so I was flying solo, which I didn't actually mind....for a few hours.

I eventually made my way down to Chichester Gate, the end of town entertainment hub, with the generic cinema, Chicago Rock Cafe, Frankie and Benny's, Lloyds Bar, Ten Pin Bowling, etc thing going on, and knowing I had a few hours to spare I went in to watch a film. Obviously my choice of film was completely dependant on the time, and so I watch Babel, a film I knew nothing about except that it had Brad Pitt in it. I came out of the cinema at 8pm on the dot and headed for my rendezvous.

Normally when I've come down I've seen the same old people but this time it was like a reunion as I got to see quite a few people I haven't seen for a long time, most of which were in my year at University or the year below. We had chats, gossiped, and it was nice to catch-up.

We even had a celebrity with us as James had brough his girlfriend Laura (from the Scott Mills Radio 1 show) with him. It must be quite odd meeting new people who may consider that they already know you as they've read a lot about you, heard you talking on the radio, or in this case read your diary. I'm glad to say that she was really nice and has made one of my mates really happy.

After the pub we all went back to Karen and Miffy's house and the highlight of the party was everyone having a go on Singstar, basically Karaoke on the PS2. It got to 3am and it was time for bed.

The next day Karen and myself had a wander around town, went to a bootfair, and then grabbed lunch with Miffy and Rich. Lunch was good, especially after beers. My time in Chi was drawing to an end and so I bid my fairwells and met up with Jamie for a spot of football on the top field at Uni. Sunday football was a bit of an institution at Uni and everyone used to meet up and have a game for a few hours, and it was great fun especially in the summer. I'm glad it's still happening.

At around 4pm I got in my car and headed back for Ramsgate.

You may have realised that I really like Chichester, and if things had worked out differently in life then I may have still been there, but the grass is always greener, and I am content with my brief visits at weekends, as I know that during the week it would be f**king boring!

Well I just had to laugh, I saw the photograph

Now this is very odd, but ultimately captivating.



This guy took a picture of himself everyday for 6 years, and this video is the result.

Standing in the way of control

I watched Skins last night, not too bad, but it has meant that I've had this tune in my head.

Now the drugs don't work

I don't mean to go all Daily Mail on you, but what's this all about? I'm sure there's no definite answer but surely this isn't the way?

For good or worse, makes you switch

After being nagged for months I've finally switched over to 'New Blogger'. I didn't want to switch over whilst it was still in beta but now I feel it's safe to switch over. Let's hope it doesn't f**k up.

The muezzin was a' standing on the radiator grille

So it's been cold lately and in the hallway we've had a radiator out of action for the past 9 months. It was corroded at the bottom and had been leaking so I had closed off the inlets to it, drained it, and then left it at that because frankly it wasn't needed for that time.

Now that the weather is very cold, the hallway is not a place to be and not a very nice greeting when it's just as cold inside as it is outside so I decided now was the time to fix it. A small flaw in the plan is that all radiators are a standard size and nothing was the same size as the one I was replacing and so I'd have to muck around with the pipes, and fit in a new section. Oh and I also had to drain the whole heating system too.

I planned to take 2 hours out this morning to sort it out after buying all the stuff I thought I'd need. Well it took a lot longer and in the end I took the whole day off work and took it as holiday.

I had to take up some laminate flooring, the skirting board, and some floorboards in order to get to the pipes.

Well it all works now and the hallway is warm. I've replaced radiators before but never had to muck around with moving piping, and it was actually very easy but only after I'd gone down a few other routes that didn't work. I now know how to replace radiators or even install completely new ones and that's the way of self-learning.

Here's how the hallway looked halfway through...

Dreams can come true

I had a dream last night that I was looking around a house as it was for sale and realised it was in Chichester, and was in fact my old house. I wanted to buy it but was probably going to rent it out, and it hadn't really changed that much and was still as messy.

One difference was that they had a small cupboard outside with a barrel of beer in it which looked very manky but the guy selling the house thought it was a good feature.

I realised I couldn't really pay for it and was just wasting the guys time, and so I thought whilst I was in Chichester I'd go out for drinks before I headed back to Ramsgate. A few of my friends from Ramsgate were there along with one of my old housemates but no one really wanted to go for drinks.

What a weird mundane dream and the thing is that I can see where all the parts of the dream came from. Coming from chats I've had, TV programmes I've watched, and the fact that I had the chance to go to Chichester this weekend but had to turn it down as I already had plans for here.

We are family

If you look to the right you may see that I've added a new badge. I am now officially a Thanet Blogger and can be found on the Thanet Blog List.

The Isle of Thanet is the area I live in (click here to learn more) and has quite a few bloggers now. It's nice to read about what people think locally instead of just getting the local paper.

As there are a lot of blogs I think I'll be making use of the 'Recent Feeds' page which shows all the recent posts from all the blogs listed, which means I don't have to visit all the individual sites and can simply browse them all in one place and read those that interest me.

Then again maybe I should just stick to the blogs on my blogroll which I've neglected quite a bit lately. I have been reading but not necessarily commenting, so don't think I'm ignoring you.

It's where I find my heaven

Thank f**k it's Friday... I'm shattered, and I've managed to avoid blogging all week.

I think what did me in was Wednesday when I was driving a bus for the Rugby and Football teams at Uni. I'd helped organise several matches against another Campus of the same University, and had also arranged for the day to be very social so they went to pubs and the Union with the opposition. I got back home at 1:30am as I was driving the minibus back from Canterbury, but I didn't really mind as I was doing them a favour and they're a great bunch of lads. It's just been the last 2 days when I've really felt it.

Yesterday I was dropping the Minibus back in Canterbury and had to get a train back to Ramsgate so that I could pick my car up from the garage. Due to severe weather my train was delayed 30 minutes, well actually I caught the train before minewhich was 45 minutes late. I later found out that the train I had wanted to catch was several hours late, and then there had been no more after that! Lucky me.

I actually like severe weather (not the bit where people get killed though), but I like it because it's unpredictable and we have no contol over it. We can usually plan our days to the minute, don't have to take time out to prepare anything, and it's so easy, but as soon as something like this happens then we're lost and all our plans are hampered. Of course if it happened too often I'd get annoyed.

So I picked the car up yesterday and it's running lovely. Just like new. And I've just had a big filling this morning. I was a brave lad though and pretty calm but my jaw is really sore from having my mouth wide open for 20 minutes.

I've been approved for my new credit card (interest free 'til April 2008), and have just signed the papers and sent them back meaning I can transfer my existing balance over from my other card which is only interest free 'til the end of this month. Perfect timing.

Also.. I'm aching quite a bit from football last night. I've got a big lump on my left shin where I took a kick, and I've also lost some skin on my right leg from going tumbling on the astro-turf. I woke up this morning aching, but it's good to feel pain every so often as it reminds me I'm alive. It's better go soon though!

I haven't got any exciting planned for the weekend and am going to try and catch up on some sleep and maybe get round to a spot of decorating. I know I was all go a few weeks ago and was planning things for every weekend, but I think sometimes "In the life of man there are times and there are seasons. There is a time to surf and there is a time to wax your board. And I'm not just talking about surfing."

Declare the pennies on your eyes

Well I've finally been to the dentist. I'd been dreading the worse as I've broken a couple of teeth, but I only need to have a replacement filling for the moment, and have got an appointment for this Friday.

I know that the broken teeth are beyond repair and will have to come out at some stage, but the dentist said that as long as they weren't causing me any pain then he'd leave them in, but if they did start hurting then he'd take them out. I think I'll wait 'til they start hurting and not take the initiative.

So the appointment and the filling cost me £42.50, which is the standard price now for most courses of treatment, and is certainly not too bad a price compared to private costs. By the same token, when I have my broken teeth out it'll cost me another £42.50. At least at this rate I know how much it'll cost, and not get stung by a big bill.

The car's got it's MOT tomorrow, so that's where the big sting will be. I sometimes wonder why I have a car, and then I remember that I'm a lazy shit and it gets me to places very quickly. When I had the old Peugeot 309 and it died on Christmas 2003, I had to get a replacement as I was still living in Chichester and used to come back to Ramsgate quite a few weekends to see my Mum and Grandma, and when I was back they needed lifts everywhere. Now that my Mum has had a hip-replacement, and that my Grandma has passed away, will I still need a car when this one dies?

It's only 10 years old and so should have plenty of life left in her, but further down the line the costs of getting her road-worthy will probably outweigh the actual cost of the car and the benefits it gives. So would I give it up?? I dunno. It seems like a long way away, but if the government makes driving too expensive then I guess I would get rid of the car.

Then again I may be loaded by that time and driving around in a Hummer.

Sometimes you tell the day by the bottle that you drink

Last night we drank all the homebrew. Very nice indeed and it went down very well.

And no gut-rot this morning either.... A success!

You bring that ass, I'll bring the brew

Last month I started off brewing my own bitter, and now it's ready!! It was actually ready to drink 2 weeks ago, but I've let it settle for longer so that the flavour and quality improves.

I had a wee snifter and it tastes fine, not brilliant, but fine, and it is drinkable which is always good. I actually used some of it for dinner tonight for my Beef and Ale Pie (minus the actual pie.. I just made the filling), along with spuds and veg. It was good and shows the extra uses for the bitter.

I've invited some of the lads around on Saturday so that we can drink the beer (around 38 pints left) an also play a bit of poker.

Now that I know the home brewing works, I've invested in a batch of cider for my next experiment, this time only making 30 litres..... but the cider will be 7.2%!

Don't need no credit card to ride this train

On the whole getting out of debt thing (which we all want to do) I'm still making progress. For those of you who don't come here often, don't think that this is just a post-New Year backlash, I actually started talking about this in October when I had £2,349.26 on my credit card.

Well since then my total is £1550.65 which means I've paid off £800 in less than 3 months which I'm very happy with. My interest free period on my creditcard runs out at the end of the month so I've just applied for another credit card from HSBC which has interest free balance transfers on it 'til April 2008! Of course I will have my debt paid off by then.

I'm going to transfer the £1500 (if I get approved for the card) and then pay off even more money. In fact I'll be able to pay off even more as I've also been putting away about £100 each month into my savings, and when the end of debt is quite near, I'll pay the last large amount in one go.

It all sounds good doesn't it? Hopefully there won't be too many surprises along the way, although the car needs an MOT in the next few weeks, which won't be good news.

The winner takes it all.

Where were you when it happened?

Open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur.

On Friday Night I wasn't going to go out for long as I was getting up early on Saturday for my trip to London, but instead I got drunk went to quite a few pubs and ended up at the casino! Don't worry I didn't lose any money and came out even.

I got up at 8:45am on Saturday morning at headed off to London Victoria station on the 10am train. I was in London at 11:45am, and after a spot of lucnh was in the Natural History Museum. I was maybe a bit ambitious to think I'd only be in there for a couple of hours finally emerged from the museum at 4:30pm and even then I had to skim over a few of the areas.

I was back on the train at 5pm and back home by 7pm. Phew I was tired, and Saturday night was just spent around the local.

I took plenty of photos and also got a few videos so check them out below.

All in all a nice day out!

Click the pictures to see the whole collection in flickr.

For suddenly, I saw you there. And through foggy London town, the sun was shining everywhere

This weekend I am going to go to the Natural History Museum in London, and entry is free (always nice), although I may check out the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition which will cost me a little extra. I could go to the Victoria & Albert Museum too, but it's not my main priority.

I will be going by myself and I'm not going to invite anyone either!

So the plan is...
Leave at 10:00am, get to london Victoria at 11:45am, jump on the tube to South Kensington, and visit the Natural History Museum. I've checked and they're completely fine with taking photographs, so I'll be in my element. Then after that I'll pop out and see what I can grab for lunch and have a nose around the area, and then if my head isn't about to explode I'll visit the V&A museum.

Trains back to Ramsgate are every half-hour from Victoria Station, so I don't have to keep a strict eye on the time.

Does it sound good?? If anyone has any tips to give or more good pointers of places to go in the vicinity then just give me a comment.

It's amazing to think that I can just jump on a train and be there in less than 2 hours, which is nothing really. I shouldn't really take these opportunities for granted. It needs minimal planning and I could do this type of thing quite a lot. Easy.

That's all for now as I'd better get back to some work now.

Can you squeeze me into an empty page of your diary

Well surprise surprise it's already that time of year when my mood has dropped. New year is not really a time for looking forward, but more a time for looking back on the past year, and realising that nothing has really changed and I have not developed. I can't really look forward when I've got something like that hanging around my neck.

I can look back on the past 2 years and nothing has really changed (well not positively). Don't get me wrong, I haven't got a lot to complain about and I am happy in my job and am doing okay for money but it's my personal life that needs work on. I need some more personal development and I need to be more adventurous, and I think I need to get out and away more. I'm not talking about going to different bars or getting a new hobby, but instead I need to culturally develop myself.

I stay in Thanet all the time, and usually moan that I don't have anytime, when infact I can really do whatever I want at the weekends. I don't make New Year's Resolutions, as they are always destined to fail but I do want to get away each weekend. I intend to jump on the train and visit more places starting with London. I want to do touristy things, visit museums, see the sights, take photos, and then jump on the train and back again.

I am going stale and need this cultural injection.

I usually won't go and do these things by myself, and will usually try and get frinds to come along to anything I organise, but I think I will have to this by myself. I enjoy being social but I also enjoy having my space. I know it may sound like a contradiction of going to somewhere like London and wanting to be by myself but it isn't.

Crazy thinking eh?

Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest

I'm a joker, I'm a smoker

A bit of news slipped by a few days ago that the legal smoking age in England and Wales was to rise from 16 to 18 years in October 2007. (read the BBC article here). This will go hand in hand with the public smoking ban (April in Wales, July in England).

I made a little 'woo hoo' noise when I read about it as I really do think smoking is vile and that people are ignorant to carry on doing it, but I know that I'm being a little harsh with that last comment as I could apply the same rationale to drinking alcohol or excessive eating. I still liked the 'woo hoo' though.

I see a lot of teenagers smoking, some of them not even actually teenagers yet, and hopefully this will mean that they will find it harder to buy cigarettes and start smoking. It's all too easy to buy cigarettes when underage, hell I even tried smoking when I was 15 but for only 2 weeks due to peer-pressure and I stopped once I realised how disgusting it was. I can see the appeal for youngsters though who still see it as 'cool'. Little do they know.

The 16 year old limit is not reinforced, so the question is if the 18 year old limit be enforced? I don't think it will but it will deter younger smokers, although those 16 year olds will still buy cigarettes but it will put off the 13, 14, and 15 year olds (hopefully).

Someone brought up the point yesterday that 16 year olds who have started smoking completely legally will be in a funny situation when it comes to October as they will have to stop smoking otherwise they'll be breaking the law, and will have to wait until they are 18. Weird eh?

If we lived in a utopian society then smoking would be completely banned, but then so would drinking, and so would sweets and any foods with excessive fat, sugar, or salt. It just isn't going to happen as there's too much invested in it. Once people are adults then they should be allowed to make their own choices as long as what they choose doesn't have an adverse effect on others.

Roll on the Smoking ban!!

And don't forget the joker!

For my birthday I got a copy of comedian Peter Kay's autobiography "The Sound of Laughter", but I only got around to reading it over the New Year period and I'm not usually one for autobiographies, especially when it's from people who you can argue are only just starting their lives such as footballers and B-list celebs. Mostly I see them as a cynical way to make extra money and cash in on what could be a very shortlived time in the limelight, but I have to say that I enjoyed Peter Kay's.

I've got 2 of his live shows already on DVD (Live at the Top of the Tower & Live at the Bolton Albert Halls) and I can see that his writing style is very much like his performing style with a selection of stories that many will recognise from his stand-up. You do come away feeling you know a bit more about him, but he really doesn't reveal anything grand, and the autobiography ends with him winning North-West Comedian of the Year 1996, and so there's lots more material that I'm sure many would like to know more about such as his TV work.

I probably wouldn't go out and buy it but if you do like his work then try and get hold of a copy and have a read.

Turn me around and take me back to the start

Last night was New Year's Eve in case you hadn't noticed and this is usually accompanied by me and my friends going out in fancy dress, getting drunk, and generally having a good time, and this year was no different. Order of the day was 'Clockwork Orange' for the guys and 'Pirates' for the girls, and I think we all looked good, and in total there were around 18 or so of us who made our way over to Broadstairs.

(Us boys before we went out)

Last night was a Guinness night for me, and I probably had about 8 pints with a horrible pint of Stella Artois to end the night with. I've actually gone off lager lately and have been enjoying my ales and stouts, and I think it's got something to do with the weather, and it's hard to describe but they are more 'warm', 'honest', and 'filling' as opposed to the lager wich seems to have absolutely no character this time of year. Anyway back to New Year's Eve.

The evening went very well and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We started off at the Bradstowe Mill, then went to the Prince Albert, then the Old Crowne, and we eventually saw in New Year at The Rose, and then to The Dolphin for that horrible Stella. We missed the last train home and then had to wait ages for a taxi, eventually getting home around 3am, and certainly the fancy dress was easier to remove than it was 2 years ago when I was covered in brown body paint when we all dressed up as Mr T. I can't believe that I woke up at 8:30am when I'm sure I could've done with the extra sleep.

It's strange that New Year no longer holds the same feelings for me as it used to and it seems to be the same for everyone around here. It's just really another day isn't it? The same holds true for Birthdays and Christmas. Is this what happens when you get older?

I was taking pictures last night with Chris' camera and so I'll get hold of some photos later and post them here and hopefuly they give me a few extra hints to what else happened last night!

Have a nice Bank Holiday people!

(p.s. I took this one when I got home.... I was drunk)