So my plans for a few hours of cycling escapism have been scuppered once more my the emergence of dusky grey clouds spilling their effluence outside, so three more hours to kill inside my workplace.

I’ve realised that when my internet went down at home I was in the process of setting this up.  Now, RSS readers probably wont realise that this site looks a little amateurish at the moment, being that it is set on the standard ‘vader’ theme, without so much as a funky photo to liven it up.  To anyone who does view this through the actual page, my apologies.  While my lack internet connection remains an intolerable nuisance, it apparantly will be fixed fairly soon, so I promise that you’ll see big and exciting changes around here.  Looking at it now is for me like catching a glimpse of oneself getting out of the shower and feeling a little ashamed at your paunch.

Also, it’s now been three weeks without smoking.  Ace!  Go me!

Don’t you love the way in which companies refuse to bend and flex themselves to help their employees.  I shaln’t go into specifics, (you never know who’s watching, and besides, I’m working from a work computer) but I believe the technical term for the emotion I’m currently feeling is GRRRR!

In good news, my internet and phone should be back with us within the next day or so, so that’s a tremendous ‘woo!’ in the base feelings range.

Had a rather splendid set of communique’s with Jonic yesterday, all conversations conducted though sentences contracted to their three or four word essence.  But all too soon it was over, I presume that he left his computer.

Took the bus to work today rather than the death-cycle, which allowed for my MP3 player to be utilised.  At first I went for some ultra-grind, but after a while I decided on a change of pace and decided to listen to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Songs For Swinging Lovers,’ an album recommended by my Dad.  It’s strange, because my Dad and I have utterly different tastes on practically everything in lfe, but recently we’ve found our music tastes grow more in synch, as he rediscovers the music of his childhood and I develop more of a taste for old classics.  It’s strange to listen to album and think that my Dad was listening to the same album way before he was the father that I know now, back when he was just a young guy, probably with the same worrries and hopes that I have.  It’s a great album, but it seems to have acquired a layer of extra significance for me.

Anyway, better go start my shift, then it’s off for drinking! 

Still going to be a little while until I have the old net magic back, but here I am at the parental abode, testing their patience as I use their dial-up.  Anyway, went to Reading for the first time since 1998 and saw the greatest live performance of my entire life.  Pearl Jam had the entire festival eating out of the palm of their hands, and the crowd were weeping for joy, myself included.  Anyway, back into netland soon people, I promise. 

 

It’s possibly a tad embarrassing as a self pronounced sci-fi nerd to admit that the current series of Doctor Who has passed me by without a glance, mainly because my housemates hate it and I can never be bothered to argue the point. So imagine my glee this evening apon their announcement of decampment to the local ale house to discover that BBC3 was showing four back to back episodes leading up to tommorow’s end of seson finale. What I discovered was four fantastic episodes of brilliantly scripted and tremendously well executed slabs of classic sci-fi nonsense about young girls kidnapping people through the medium of crayons, Peter Kay doing his best Fat-Bastard-from-Austin-Powers impression and truckloads of Cybermen. Excellent.

I also noticed that there appears to be a new series of The Shield that has started on Five. Unfortunately I came a bit late to the party with this show, and as much as I love it, I’ve still yet to see season three, which has inexplicably recieved no region 2 release on DVD. If anyone has any idea when this is coming out, please let me know.

At this point I’m sure many of you would point out that I can easily download such episodes. This is true, but I’m not a fan of illegal downloads of any kind. I have never downloaded a CD in my life, mainly because a lot of the music I like is made by small bands who struggle for funds. I mean, Metallica is one thing, but if I were to keep downloading things like Today Is The Day or Bossk (whose excellent ep is currently delighting my ears) or Knut, how are these bands supposed to survive? And besides, I like my DVD shelf, all nicely lined up and pretty. It’s not the same on a computer. Now I am slightly hypocritcal in some respect, because I will gleefully borrow CDs off of a friend to listen to on my MP3 player. but if I really like them, I will then go and buy them. And besides, I’m a big fan of packaging, lyric sheets, and with DVD’s, special features. Maybe I’m just old fashioned that way.

Before I go, I’d like to point you in the direction of one of the funniest flash animations I’ve seen in years. If you don’t find it raises even the slightest of chuckles, then you have no soul. And isn’t it great that poking fun at Bush just never grows old? John Culshaw was interviewed on Jonathan Ross tonight, and he said that come 2008 there will be a big comedy hole where he used to be.  I tend to agree.