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Week off work - Day 5
What is happenning in the world of pop at the moment? Atomic Kitten have announced they are to split (yay!), but not for good (boo!); Kylie's latest single sounds like a Victoria Beckham b-side; and Daniel Beddingfield is going to be charged for dangerous driving, despite injuring no one but himself (unfortunately, there is no mention of him never being able to sing again). It's just not like it was in 'my day', so I'm going to revive a few memories by popping along to The Peter Saville Show at some point over the weekend. I own so many albums which have his artwork on the cover that I could have my own mini show here, but doubt it would be the same. Excuse me while I switch off the radio and have a rummage for Technique...
Posted on January 30, 2004 | Comments (1)
Week off work - Day 3
In a week where Robyn is trying to avoid relaxation with chores, I am currently doing the exact opposite. So far today I have learnt a new word courtesy of BBCi (castigate - to chastise verbally), listed a few items on eBay, and felt worse than the weather looks. My wisdom teeth have been trying to come through for a while so, every now and then, they cause me great discomfort and my entire head hurts for days.
I'm beginning to wish I hadn't vowed to post something on every day of my week off, whether or not I had anything of interest to say. The only way this could sound more like a typical Live Journal is if I had a pet to tell you about too.
Posted on January 28, 2004 | Comments (5)
Week off work - Day 2
Looks like the misguided target to get 50% of school leavers to go to university is one step closer to being unattainable now that Tony Blair's won the key vote on top-up fees in the Commons today. If I was still in school now I think getting a job and doing a part time degree with the Open University would be the preferred route. I wonder if more people will go that way or if they'll just shun higher education all together.
On a lighter note... I hope the snow that has started to fall this evening settles so that I can make the most of it and take my camera out tomorrow!
Posted on January 27, 2004 | Comments (2)
Week off work - Day 1
I have so much planned for this week but the house is such a mess that I feel I really must tidy that up before I start anything else. How do I find the energy for that when I'm still desperate to catch up on lost sleep? I think a spot of Permission to Land should get me in the mood. The plans for the week include, cleaning/tidying the house, sanding and repainting some of the woodwork, meeting up with a friend for a spot of dog-walking, going window-shopping with my mum, attending college, having a facial (birthday present), watching M, writing more articles, finishing a painting and updating this site with something interesting. Better get started then!
In other news... future blogmeet plans involve gatecrashing Adrian's party and/or popping up to see Sarah in February, before having our first ever weekend Manchester blogmeet in March so that anyone who lives further afield might just be able to pop along and join us. Lyle's already trying to organise that one so get your suggested dates/venues in quick.
Posted on January 26, 2004 | Comments (6)
Just relaaaaax
Amazingly, I just spent almost two whole days without access to the internet and almost a full twenty-four hours of that time not even missing it. It's quite astounding what being in the middle of nowhere with good company, a log fire and some Smirnoff Blue Label can do. On returning, safe in the knowledge that I now have a week off work to look forward to, I decided to re-acquaint myself with broadband and find out if anything new is happening in the world. Unfortunately, I just found some peculiar people instead (yes, I know. On the internet? How strange).
Telling teenagers not to do stuff because it's 'bad' never works, so how about telling them that not doing it is 'cool'? Only in America could this work.
Posted on January 25, 2004 | Comments (4)
Digital is great!
Oh the joys of digital photography. We left Fab Cafe after midnight and I have got my photos online already. (Bear with me, I'm still new to this.) It was another great evening (despite us being sand Sarah and Chris), with talk this time of gay hobbit porn and dreaming of being flattened by hippos... I'm amazed that didn't scare off Meg, to be honest. Due to the poor quality of the dancefloor adornment, it was decided that the next blogmeet should be at a different venue though.
I'll write more after sleep, I think. (If anyone really hates any of the photos, I'll take them down.)
Posted on January 23, 2004 | Comments (7)
The return of blogmeet
So... here we are again then. Tonight, several of us will be lounging in a corner of Fab Cafe in Manchester from 8pm. Come along if you like. We're not at all scary. (Next week I'm off work so there should be a flurry of more interesting posts then. I think my brain's still switched off at the moment!)
Posted on January 22, 2004 | Comments (12)
What a bargain!
I found some time last night (between Enterprise and The Handler) to sit down and read through the Guardian Weekend magazine discovering, on page 78, one of the worst adverts in the world... ever. It is for a 'classic retro style' manual typewriter which, although odd, is not particularly tragic until you notice their money saving claims - "Save £1000 on the cost of buying a computer"! I had to read the entire advert several times before coming to the conclusion that this is actually a genuine offer but still can't quite work out why anyone would think this is a good line to include. What next? Marigolds being advertised as saving you hundreds on the cost of a dishwasher? Shoes will save you thousands on the price of a car! Janbo Trading Ltd are clearly one sandwich short of a picnic.
Posted on January 20, 2004 | Comments (6)
Nominations day
It's certainly a day for nominations today with the shortlists out for both the BAFTA film awards and the Bloggies. While I'm very pleased with the BAFTA lists, the Bloggies are showing a disappointing lack of UK blogs in the final few. Perhaps not enough of us nominated and volunteered to be on the panel that selected the shortlist. Whatever. At least we have a category to ourselves so get on over there and place you vote for the winner. I'm not there (like I expected anything else), but Green Fairy is. Not that I'm trying to sway you...
Posted on January 19, 2004 | Comments (7)
I want that one!
In true Little Britain style, when I read a story on the BBC news site about the Raleigh Chopper making a comeback, I pointed at the picture and said "I want that one". I really can't imagine a scenario where I'd be willing to give up my car and have only briefly considered getting a bike to cycle to work before shelving the plan when several HGVs veered in my direction. However, the Chopper conjures up images of youthful misadventure (a la Scary Duck) rather than commuting, so I could even be tempted into spending weekends exploring the area's cycle routes causing havoc to all the families on their 'posh' mountain bikes. I was never the rebel I wanted to be when I was younger and I doubt I would be now just by buying one of these, but I can dream.
Posted on January 16, 2004 | Comments (4)
I (heart) Zoe Williams
Posted on January 13, 2004 | Comments (4)
Tired and irritable 2
I love it when people leave me comments, I really do. Just take a look at the glorious collection below for some of the best ever, which have really warmed my heart on this dreary work day. However, some people have arrived here whilst looking for a certain man (who shall remain nameless), and have still felt moved to leave their mark even though the post in question is older than this almighty hoo hah that they have gone in search of information on. Why can't they do me a favour and direct their comments to a far better place? I'm all for free speech, just as long as it entertains me.
On a lighter note... the 2004 Brit Awards nominees are out today and I reckon that Duran Duran stand a good chance in the 'Outstanding contribution to music' category. Might see what odds I can get and pop a fiver on tomorrow.
Posted on January 12, 2004 | Comments (6)
Me, me, me!
My site got reviewed today by someone who appears to be far better at it than I am! Machi has provided me with a fresh analysis of my writing style and some nice pointers to help me improve the site overall. The main issue that I want to take up here, however, is that people new to my site obviously notice my total and utter inability to write anything approaching a useful or witty piece about myself. I have tried using questions set for me, links that describe each year of my life so far, re-writing Robyn's brilliant unbiography for myself (I was so terrible at it that it never appeared online!), and the current cop out.
So, this is where you guys come in. I want some quotes from you about either me or my site, like the sort they put on movie posters. Be bitchy, witty, truthful or creative... anything! Perhaps something along the lines of "Even better than XFM!" - Adrian Sevitz, "Could do with more swearing." - Lyle or "Almost the best blog on my server." - Topper. You get the general idea. The best ones will be used on this site as another dodgy 'about' page for me and some shameless promotion for you.
Posted on January 11, 2004 | Comments (28)
"Get everyone in the UK nominated"
Over on Fembat.Net some people are having roughly the same idea as me. I've already submitted my nominations for the 2004 Bloggies (largely from my own blogroll in an attempt to *ahem* keep the British end up), so why don't you fill in the form too? Can't hurt.
UPDATE: In the comments for my entry of 7th January, Nayf reckoned I needed more exciting dreams, so I though I'd share last night's real sleep-induced scenario with you for evaluation and analysis. Lately I've been dreaming a lot but none of it was memorable; until last night. The only part I can remember was turning up somewhere one evening with a group of friends, one of whom was driving my car and parked it very badly and on something sharp. Strangely enough, even though we had a puncture, we happened to be right outside a garage where the mechanics were still working (despite it appearing to be quite late at night), so we left the car with them and crossed the road to another building. Inside there were a lot of people in medieval costumes (LARPers perhaps?) getting drunk and dancing around like fools. At this point all my friends left me to chat to various people and I ended up dancing with a guy who turned out to be Louis Theroux. Then, at the end of the evening, I went back to get my car and the guy at the garage took my money but insisted he wouldn't let me have the car until I had sex with him. I don't remember anything after that. He was pretty horrible so I hope that I smashed him over the head with something heavy, grabbed my car keys and made a swift getaway, but you never know with dreams.
Posted on January 10, 2004 | Comments (5)
A different Friday five
Things I learned today...
1) Practically everyone on the planet works with idiots.
2) If you want to dress like Sophie Ellis Bextor, head down to Top Shop, pronto.
3) After fifteen seasons, The Simpsons just gets better.
4) If you'd rather not end up in hospital, don't start an argument outside my sister's old school.
5) New satellite station FX UK's show Drive Shaft "is a car programme that makes Jeremy Clarkson look like a Liberal Democrat-voting feminist".
Posted on January 09, 2004 | Comments (0)
Every January, without fail
So, here we are again then. Now that my birthday is over for another year, my body has decided to submit to the cold virus that's been knocking on the door for a few days and it's left me feeling pretty awful. Why is it that I get this at the same time every year? Maybe it's the shock of being back at work for 5 days a week after so many weeks with days off. Whatever, I hope this Lemsip Max Strength lives up to its advertising claims.
If you want something a little more cheery than my sniffly whinging, there's been a bit of action over at the forums recently that's worth checking out if you haven't done so already. And Chris' new photos are worth a look too. Makes me want to pick up my camera(s) again when I feel better.
Posted on January 08, 2004 | Comments (0)
Mornings aren't so bad
My dream finally came true this week as the truly awful Sara Cox was replaced on the Radio One breakfast show by the Chris Moyles team. Only time will tell if they can make it a success but I have really enjoyed waking up this week and have also been on time for work every day so they're doing me a world of good. And they're playing The Darkness now too!
Posted on January 07, 2004 | Comments (13)
We're gonna sip Bacardi like it's...
29 is a prime number. There are 29 days in February in a leap year. In the stereotypes loved by comedians, 'Lot 29' was to auctions what 'PC 49' was to policemen - 'Lot 29' was likely to be a hideously ugly vase, a chair on the point of falling to pieces, a wireless that only crackled, or some other object that no one in their right mind would want to buy. 29 is the highest possible hand in a game of cribbage. Ball 29 has been drawn 14 times in the last year on the main Lotto draw in the UK. 29 is also the number of full years I have now been alive... but I don't give a f*** cos it's my birthday!
Posted on January 06, 2004 | Comments (16)
Oops, I shouldn't have done it at all
I'm sorry Geri Halliwell, but I think we have a new queen of scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to publicity stunts. Why else would Britney Spears have a quickie wedding, getting hitched to a "childhood sweetheart" in Las Vegas, other than to get herself in the headlines again? Apparently they regretted it soon after and are planning on having the marriage annulled, but that sounds more like her idea than his. She is apparently worth over $100m and he'd be stupid not to hold out for half if there's no pre-nup. Maybe it was just a stupid mistake after Britney has watched too many Friends episodes, but it sounds more like it was all planned. This isn't the first time I've found out something on a blog before it hit the headlines either... maybe I read too many of them!
Posted on January 05, 2004 | Comments (2)
Political Idol?
The next reality television idea being mooted has the potential to be far more interesting than the others. The Observer reports that one of the producers responsible for a large chunk of the UK population sitting in their homes all summer doing nothing but watching other people sat in a house doing nothing, is now in talks with regard to producing a political version of Pop Idol. On one hand this could be a last desperate attempt by TV executives to get money for nothing, but on the other hand it could be a work of political genius. A politician that has been tailored to be likeable and to meet the people's needs? Someone who has had the benefit of the entire television-watching population as their focus group? It may be able to entice younger voters where others have failed, and it may result in a new type of pester-power when the kids who voted for the winner in the TV show try to get older relatives to vote for their choice in an election, but it may just turn out to be comical when Daily Mail readers latch on to the show and suggest a manifesto for the candidate that would never catch on. At least, I hope it wouldn't.
Posted on January 04, 2004 | Comments (3)
Manchester Blogmeet III
If Thursday 22nd January in Fab Cafe isn't good for you, then speak now (here) or forever hold your peace.
Posted on January 03, 2004 | Comments (3)
Happy Days
I read today that UK high street chain WH Smith had a "disappointing Christmas" and is warning of a profits shortfall which I find quite hard to believe after the size of the queues I experienced in their Trafford Centre store before Christmas. Even though I generally only venture into their shops for a magazine or greetings card these days, I still like to keep an eye on what the company's up to as my first every wages came from them. At sixteen years old I stacked my first shelf and operated my first till whilst wearing a beige skirt and a white blouse that looked like it had been crayoned on by someone with an unsteady hand and a limited colour palette. I started on the stationery department and progressed to the cash office - by the time I left, I could cover for practically anyone in the store.
I have many a happy memory of stock taking in Italian, summer boat trips on the Thames, team members making prank internal phone calls with a 'jungle stick', Christmas parties at the town hall, doing till checks with a calculator, 25% discount on all the CDs and videos I could afford, bringing in deliveries on my own in the snow at 8am, and the department manager who bought old-fashioned car horns instead of door-bells for us to use on the tills when ringing for help. The store manager was one of the best I have ever worked for, and the staff were fantastic. If things had stayed the way they were in those halcyon days (and if I'd have been happy living with my parents forever due to lack of funds), I could have stayed there. Stay tuned for more Happy Days...
Posted on January 02, 2004 | Comments (0)