Well my friends, I know my posting has been erratic to say the very least. Posting is always in my thoughts, and there is a lot I'd love to talk to you about and the list gets longer daily. Indeed too long, I barely know where to begin (!)
You know of course I'm not in the best of health, and my recent re-start was part of an attempt to maybe normalise or at least arrange my life. That seems to be my goal right now, to bring a feeling of order. However after just a few days I can see that this at least has been a wrong move. While I have so much to talk about, and while more comes up all the time, blogging is just one more thing I don't have the energy to do. Often I feel I barely am able to cover the essentials of life never mind any of the add-ons.
So all that has happened is I don't post and it becomes just one more thing to beat myself up over and feel guilty about, and this of course is not helpful!
So as of now I'm formally saying Au revoir. Not goodbye, you never know what the future will bring. Indeed I have meetings with several doctors and specialists in the near future, there is the hope that life can be improved, maybe even returned to something approaching normality (whatever that may be) but for the foreseeable future, this blog will be put to rest.
I am on Twitter, which is great fun,it's by definition short and immediate and can be picked up and dropped at will depending on how one feels. Banal to important it's all on there, if you are too, I'm @MUSEmunkey, and assuming you're a real person and not a bot or trying to flog me stuff I'll follow you back :-) I am on Facebook too, but frankly don't like it and very rarely say anything.
But in the meantime dear people thats it for Blogger, thank you for reading and for all your messages, my love to you all
Graham
Neath
South Wales
Friday, 27 April 2012
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Captain Vimes's boots
This is the Captain Vimes's boots theory of economics, paraphrased as I can't remember the exact details and am too lazy to try and find it, but it is ©Terry Pratchett :-)
Captain Vimes doesn't have much spare cash, instead spending most of it on cheap booze (!) so spends $5 on his boots. They are not good boots he knows this, after a very short period they will start to disintegrate, they will leak and be uncomfortable but with some make do and mending and stuffing with the Ankh Morpork Times they can be made to last about a year at which time he will pay another $5 and buy another pair.
Lord So and So on the other hand for one reason or another has more disposable income. So he gets his boots made to measure. They cost $25 but they have been made by a local skilled artisan. They are luxurious, they are beautifully made, they look good, they are comfortable and most of all they will still be as good in 25 years *and* he will have had dry feet *the whole time*.
Much simplified but just a thought...
Captain Vimes doesn't have much spare cash, instead spending most of it on cheap booze (!) so spends $5 on his boots. They are not good boots he knows this, after a very short period they will start to disintegrate, they will leak and be uncomfortable but with some make do and mending and stuffing with the Ankh Morpork Times they can be made to last about a year at which time he will pay another $5 and buy another pair.
Lord So and So on the other hand for one reason or another has more disposable income. So he gets his boots made to measure. They cost $25 but they have been made by a local skilled artisan. They are luxurious, they are beautifully made, they look good, they are comfortable and most of all they will still be as good in 25 years *and* he will have had dry feet *the whole time*.
Much simplified but just a thought...
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Happy Record Store Day
Apparently it's Record Store day. So happy record store day. Not.
Record stores were one of the reasons I stopped listening to music for over a decade, not the only one it is true, maybe not even the main one, but it was certainly a major nail in the coffin.
In general I'm glad almost all have gone to the wall. There is all this tosh about all the help and advice they gave, I can put hand on heart and say I have *never* been given any help or advice in one, just sneered at by some spiky haired foetus that has done one to many experiments in facial piercing.
The final straw I remember was the lady in front of me wishing to pay and to ask about albums by Mick Ronson being abused by the pair of 'youffs' behind the counter because a. they had never heard of Mick Ronson anyway (!) and B. they would rather carry on chatting in the most lurid possible terms about their unsavoury doings of the evening before rather then do their jobs or give any form of help or advice other then to leave them alone.
That was the last time, I couldn't get out fast enough, out of the darkness and volumes of 'music' that would be considered dangerous in a disco, or a building site, so you immediately couldn't remember why you went in there in the first place and the crowds of milling teenagers , not buying or even looking at anything, probably also wondering what the hell they had gone in there for...
I am now a music fan again, I buy and listen to music constantly. I love Muse, and My Chemical Romance, and Marilyn Manson. I also love The National, and Elbow and Doves. I also love Pink Floyd and Roxy Music and The Rolling Stones. And Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. God I have even been known to love Frank Sinatra and Doris Day, and Andy Williams.
And where do I go now? Amazon. They are fast and efficient, and most importantly they could not care *less* who I buy or what my taste is. They just want me to carry on doing it so they will all have a business and stay in a job.
Kind of bet all the Our Price Records, and Virgins and Tower Records and all those oh so superior 'independents' had thought of that before...
Good riddance.
There will be more. You have been warned :-)
Record stores were one of the reasons I stopped listening to music for over a decade, not the only one it is true, maybe not even the main one, but it was certainly a major nail in the coffin.
In general I'm glad almost all have gone to the wall. There is all this tosh about all the help and advice they gave, I can put hand on heart and say I have *never* been given any help or advice in one, just sneered at by some spiky haired foetus that has done one to many experiments in facial piercing.
The final straw I remember was the lady in front of me wishing to pay and to ask about albums by Mick Ronson being abused by the pair of 'youffs' behind the counter because a. they had never heard of Mick Ronson anyway (!) and B. they would rather carry on chatting in the most lurid possible terms about their unsavoury doings of the evening before rather then do their jobs or give any form of help or advice other then to leave them alone.
That was the last time, I couldn't get out fast enough, out of the darkness and volumes of 'music' that would be considered dangerous in a disco, or a building site, so you immediately couldn't remember why you went in there in the first place and the crowds of milling teenagers , not buying or even looking at anything, probably also wondering what the hell they had gone in there for...
I am now a music fan again, I buy and listen to music constantly. I love Muse, and My Chemical Romance, and Marilyn Manson. I also love The National, and Elbow and Doves. I also love Pink Floyd and Roxy Music and The Rolling Stones. And Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington and Nina Simone. God I have even been known to love Frank Sinatra and Doris Day, and Andy Williams.
And where do I go now? Amazon. They are fast and efficient, and most importantly they could not care *less* who I buy or what my taste is. They just want me to carry on doing it so they will all have a business and stay in a job.
Kind of bet all the Our Price Records, and Virgins and Tower Records and all those oh so superior 'independents' had thought of that before...
Good riddance.
There will be more. You have been warned :-)
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Hello World
It's been forever since my last post and that may or may not be a good thing :-) For anyone that knows me or us, the past months have not been great health wise and I had got into the 'can't be bothered' frame of mind.
That I could accept all the time I was feeling so low. But I am getting better, very painfully slowly it's true and with many depressing setbacks but I *am* feeling better and I can no longer accept that thinking. It sticks around for too long it becomes permanent and that I can't be doing with.
So I shall be restarting. I plan to say nothing directly about my condition, I mean what is there that's more boring then other people's illnesses? Indeed I have no idea if I have anything to say that's of the slightest interest to anyone at all, but that isn't, or shouldn't be the reason for a blog anyway should it? I also don't know how often or regularly I shall be writing, but my *intention* is to give it a go.
I'm not going to say 'watch this space' and the road to hell is paved with good intentions (or frozen double glazing salesmen if Terry Pratchett is to be believed) but who knows there may be something for someone..
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Open letter to Norton Internet Security.
Dear Norton
I've been using your products for many years, indeed since they were called Norton Tools and came on diskettes. This (happy?) relationship is now at an end.
At the end of last year my copy of Internet Security on my desktop just switched off. No warning or explanation of any sort (the subscription still had 3 months to run). It would not switch back on, my computer was left open vulnerable and unprotected. I am very glad I noticed something was amiss almost at once. It might have been very different.
I contacted your much vaunted 'help desk' for, well help. To this day I have never received the courtesy of a reply. Thinking about it, I have *never* received a reply from your company on any inquiry of any sort.
Needless to say rather then leave my computer unprotected I deleted your software and installed that of a rival which I have to say is in every single way very much superior. I wish I had done it long ago.
I still use Internet Security on my laptop. In my stupidity I subscribed for two years. I shall carry on using it until it runs out, you have already cheated me of 3 months subscription, why should you cheat me of any more?
Just to let you know though I hate your software even more then I did before. The latest ploy is constant nag screens about performance in that in your estimation my Opera browser uses too much system resource. Presumably Opera is preventing Norton from grabbing it all like it normally does.
It is my computer, I shall run what I damn well like and it's none of your business.
I seriously would like to wish you well in future endeavors, but I'd be lying. I hope you get bought by some large foreign investment company, asset stripped and run into the ground.
Love & kisses
Graham
Monday, 21 February 2011
New Adventures in HiFi
I did write an entry the other day, as you can imagine, it was brilliant, incisive and of world shattering importance. Then I managed to delete it. I have no idea how.
So today I thought I'd talk about something totally different.
Pictured above (thats not my one, it's a stock photo I grabbed off the net) is one of my all time favorite amplifiers.
Most people would pick something costing mega bucks by one of the worlds prestige manufacturers but my choice has to go to the humble Leak Delta 30. This is the visually updated version (the insides are all but identical) to the earlier Leak Stereo 30+. It was given a face lift when the Rank organization bought Leak and Harold Leak the founder retired. They didn't do the company any good in the long run (along with Wharfedale the speaker manufacturer which they also acquired) but this at least was a good move.
Why this little amp? God knows it's no powerhouse (12-15 watts a channel) the sockets, particularly the speaker connectors are a pain and of course it's old. But it's built like a tank, the modular card system it's built upon make it surprisingly easy to work on and plug in a modern source like a CD player or an iPod (via a small dock and obviously using stuff recorded in lossless) and it just sounds *right*. Never fatiguing, always warm and inviting, you can listen all day. I tired many years ago of the 'my HiFi is so good nothing I have is good enough to listen to on it'
I am currently using it plugged into a pair of equally vintage B&W DM2a's (another favorite) While it is nowhere near powerful enough, the DM's are inefficient and like lots of power, but as long as you are not planning any parties (and I'm not) it's a magical combination.
The story is that Harold Leak, who by all accounts was not the easiest of men, accidentally purloined the design which was left on a desk while visiting the premises of a rival manufacturer. I'd love this to be true and if so I could even make a guess as to which one. Who knows the truth after all this time, whatever the case he produced something special.
I'd like to try it's bigger brother, the Delta 70, basically exactly the same amp, just uprated a bit and managing a good 35+ watts.
Of course there's plenty out there that can do better in so many areas, but to find a combination so lush in such an unassuming little package is more then anyone could hope for.
Obviously offer me a Radford STA15, a Quad22/33/405/606, a Lecson or any amount of others and I'm going to take your hand off, but you'll never get one of those for the same outlay..
I love 70's HiFi particularly British HiFi. The designs and concepts are unique. It's also built out of slabs and casts of aluminium and steel casing and veneers are real. It owes much more to industrial design then it's Japanese and American counterparts and to my eyes is all the better for it. The components used are proper full sized ones and look and behave like they are supposed to. And you can *fix* them. Try doing that with the latest Chinese made techno wonder..
Monday, 14 February 2011
My Chemical Romance at the Wembley Arena. Photograph (c) Julie Bench
The My Chemical Romance World Contamination Tour rolls on and London Wembley was another triumph. I know, my friend Julie was there with her family, I should have been too. I've seen the setlist, I've seen the photographs it looks a stunning night. There is a thought there were more cameras then strictly necessary so maybe this time the Video will be in London rather then Mexico? I can but hope.
Tonight at a musical opposite I should have been at The London O2 seeing the reunion tour of Roxy Music. I really wanted to go, I have loved Roxy since a young teenager. The last time they were all together like tonight I couldn't go either, my mum wouldn't let me as I was too young. Unless Mr Ferry and the guys have such a ball they decide to do it all again and soon, I don't suppose I'll get the chance again. Sometimes life is a b*tch.
By the way if you're into slick utterly professional music handled perfectly and thats just going to give you a good time try Bryan Ferry's new album Olympia. It won't have you bouncing around the room or screaming the lyrics, it's not going to change the world or set it on fire, but even the rockiest of us need to relax sometimes. Gorgeous.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Been a while
Well hello my friends, it's been a while and I guess we have a lot to catch up on. To tell the truth I had kind of decided not to bother any more with this blog, I mean who on earth wants another one? Plus it takes time and even energy at least in the brain department.
But Things change, mostly for me has been a major dip in health since just before my birthday last year. After iffing and ah-ing the docs seem to think I have Chron's disease. It's not confirmed yet as I have a consultant who seems to rarely be around but it seems the most likely from what I know of the condition (I have a brother in law who suffers with it plus what I have read here on the net). When I mentioned this to one of my my GP's (I seem somehow to have three and be shared between them depending on who is in on any given day) I got the reply 'well thats what we thought right at the beginning' No one had thought of telling me of course. It would have saved a lot of dark imaginings.
So at the moment I'm not much better then an invalid and that gets more boring then I can express. I had no idea, I've always been doing something and suddenly not being able to is frustrating the hell out of me. Especially when every time you start to feel a little better you get knocked back down again. You almost seem to be in a war against yourself.
So maybe to restart the blog which thanks to my trusty Lenovo Netbook I can do from more or less anywhere, even bed. How much I shall write about this I don't know, I'm sure it will come up, it can hardly not, but whether it goes further then that I have yet to decide. Lets face it other peoples woes can get deadly boring.
Anyway there's lots we can talk about, there's music for a start. Tonight I should be at the My Chemical Romance's gig at Wembley Arena in London. I so wanted to see the full Danger Days show :-((
At least Muse finished the Resistance tour and I was at Wembley Stadium with them so I have I figure a good three years before I need to get suicidal if I can't go.
I have discovered (much to the delight I am sure of Amazon) many new and several old bands to fall in love with. There is my ongoing love of 70's HiFi, actually most things 70's now I think of it.. There's the house and the garden, which I have spent the last weeks thinking deeply about and planning, looking forward to the time when I can actually do it and if all that runs out I'm sure we can find something to talk about.
So here I am (again)
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Todays Haul
Actually a slight cheat as it arrived yesterday, but I now have in my hands William Gibson's new novel Zero History.
I bought Neuromancer on Brighton Railway Station in 1984. I opened it read the first line 'The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel'. That started a love affair thats continued to this day. While his books have gradually moved away from Science fiction to be set in the increasingly complex world we live in the poetry and beauty of his style holds me as tightly as ever.
And by coincidence I finished the new Neal Asher yesterday :-)
My other haul, in this case a bargain, was the second hand gorgeous boxed limited edition set of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.
The album which I love deeply is the same, in this case it's the box itself that is so exceptional. Including a book about the album and it's concepts by the band the whole style is Victorian/Steampunk/Faulkner. it reminds me of those deep south funeral 'pictures' made of plaited twisted hair and dried flowers
Actually even the fact that it's second hand is fitting :-)
My Chemical romance have become one of my latest obsessions. There may be more mentions...
I bought Neuromancer on Brighton Railway Station in 1984. I opened it read the first line 'The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel'. That started a love affair thats continued to this day. While his books have gradually moved away from Science fiction to be set in the increasingly complex world we live in the poetry and beauty of his style holds me as tightly as ever.
And by coincidence I finished the new Neal Asher yesterday :-)
My other haul, in this case a bargain, was the second hand gorgeous boxed limited edition set of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.
The album which I love deeply is the same, in this case it's the box itself that is so exceptional. Including a book about the album and it's concepts by the band the whole style is Victorian/Steampunk/Faulkner. it reminds me of those deep south funeral 'pictures' made of plaited twisted hair and dried flowers
Actually even the fact that it's second hand is fitting :-)
My Chemical romance have become one of my latest obsessions. There may be more mentions...
Friday, 27 August 2010
update
I have had a countdown clock on my desktop for the last 10 months. From a count of over 300 days we are now down (at the time of writing)to 14 days 10 hours 53 minutes.
MUSE at Wembley. Announced at the O2 10 months ago we are now nearly there.
While these days I have a new album by My Chemical Romance to look forward to. Flamingo (and subsequent tour) by Brandon Flowers and even Roxy Music next January at the O2 (the last time they toured as a band my mother wouldn't let me go) Muse are my first love.
After much panicking my tickets finally arrived yesterday. And now it's real.
There will be more..
Monday, 26 April 2010
Scrappy
This is very scrappy, I may get better if I can get back into the swing of it.
It's been so long since I posted an entry Google had forgotten who I was. Just as well I remembered my password right..
Talking of Passwords, I recently read the Cuckoo's egg by Cliff Stoll. An account of chasing the first real hackers through a mid '80's landscape of DEC Vax's and Unix. Things have certainly changed since those days of 'proper' computing, and certainly some of the conclusions drawn at the end of the book are actually laughable in hindsight but it did hammer home the need for passwords to be non dictionary words..
I do now have a desire for tie dye tee shirts, and maybe it's just as well I don't have enough hair to grow (well with any hope of attractiveness anyway)
Last night I fully tested out my refurbished B&W DM2 speakers Built in 1972, they really don't make them like that any more. Huge by todays standards, while the technology of manufacturing speakers has improved, it almost seems to be in inverse proportion to their ability to play music.
I started off with some Portishead on vinyl, went on to Bowie and could actually have sat there all night playing album after album. Oh yes and nothing beats the 12" album for sheer musical ability either..
LCD Soundsystem are 'attacked' in this video for 'drunk girls' buy guys in panda type costumes. I am sure they are some sort of art terrorist group. Or something. anyway I wouldn't fancy them let loose on me..
It's been so long since I posted an entry Google had forgotten who I was. Just as well I remembered my password right..
Talking of Passwords, I recently read the Cuckoo's egg by Cliff Stoll. An account of chasing the first real hackers through a mid '80's landscape of DEC Vax's and Unix. Things have certainly changed since those days of 'proper' computing, and certainly some of the conclusions drawn at the end of the book are actually laughable in hindsight but it did hammer home the need for passwords to be non dictionary words..
I do now have a desire for tie dye tee shirts, and maybe it's just as well I don't have enough hair to grow (well with any hope of attractiveness anyway)
Last night I fully tested out my refurbished B&W DM2 speakers Built in 1972, they really don't make them like that any more. Huge by todays standards, while the technology of manufacturing speakers has improved, it almost seems to be in inverse proportion to their ability to play music.
I started off with some Portishead on vinyl, went on to Bowie and could actually have sat there all night playing album after album. Oh yes and nothing beats the 12" album for sheer musical ability either..
LCD Soundsystem are 'attacked' in this video for 'drunk girls' buy guys in panda type costumes. I am sure they are some sort of art terrorist group. Or something. anyway I wouldn't fancy them let loose on me..
Sunday, 28 February 2010
BBC 6Music
It's been called the BBC's secret station, due probably to being launched in 2002 onto the unknown and unused DAB digital radio network.
I suspect a few more people now know of it's existence since the Times 'leaked' a BBC report that it was due to be closed along with Asian network and a lot of it's online presence.
The howls of protest have been staggering, and none have been more surprised then the stations presenters themselves. Shaun Keavney on Friday morning was quite choked up, and this was a mere couple of hours after the leakage... since then we on the twitter #save6music and #savebbc6music groups have *really* got going.
We have support from Rock stars like David Bowie on down, the NUJ is on our side along with hosts of comedians celebrities and the like. We now even have a number of MP's.The only real silence has been from those you would have thought would be the most vocal, presenters from the other stations, most notably Radio 1. Jealous perhaps.
I have written to the Mark Thompson himself, to the BBC and to the board of governors along with several MP's and ministers, the BBC complaints department, signed petitions and constantly tweeted and Facebook'd on the subject.
And why would I bother, what is the magic of BBC 6music? I mean it's only a bleedin' radio station...
Probably 10 years ago I'd stopped listening to music. Strange but true. For years I didn't even have anything to play it on. There was a half hearted 'cinema' thing in the living room and that was it. I listened to Radio 4 and everything else was at most relegated to the loft. The albums went down the dump... (I know)
I'm not even sure why it happened now. I just thought that nobody was making music for me and that I'd better face it, ageing and time for talk only radio.
in my 40's and not dead yet. Way past radio1 and it's non stop banalities and diet of stock aitken and Waterman (now simon cowell) and/or rap/dance and *never* ready for the suburban wasteland that is radio2. My time was over.
Now I'm not saying that it was 6music that changed this bleak outlook, but suddenly something changed. All I know is that they have fed into my renewed passion for music. I have NEVER bought so much, NEVER listened to so much. I have been to concerts, I have 4 *count then4!* full on Hi Fi systems with facilities for every format. I have an iPod that I could not live without.
6music is the Radio 3 for the Rock & Pop generation (a fact I see is being picked up by more and more people) it is clever, passionate, they care about music and what they play. And most importantly they play music for me and people like me, music that is not covered by and other radio station anywhere.
It is thanks to 6music I discovered MUSE.
This cultural vandalism must not happen, and by god if I have anything to do with it, it won't.
I suspect a few more people now know of it's existence since the Times 'leaked' a BBC report that it was due to be closed along with Asian network and a lot of it's online presence.
The howls of protest have been staggering, and none have been more surprised then the stations presenters themselves. Shaun Keavney on Friday morning was quite choked up, and this was a mere couple of hours after the leakage... since then we on the twitter #save6music and #savebbc6music groups have *really* got going.
We have support from Rock stars like David Bowie on down, the NUJ is on our side along with hosts of comedians celebrities and the like. We now even have a number of MP's.The only real silence has been from those you would have thought would be the most vocal, presenters from the other stations, most notably Radio 1. Jealous perhaps.
I have written to the Mark Thompson himself, to the BBC and to the board of governors along with several MP's and ministers, the BBC complaints department, signed petitions and constantly tweeted and Facebook'd on the subject.
And why would I bother, what is the magic of BBC 6music? I mean it's only a bleedin' radio station...
Probably 10 years ago I'd stopped listening to music. Strange but true. For years I didn't even have anything to play it on. There was a half hearted 'cinema' thing in the living room and that was it. I listened to Radio 4 and everything else was at most relegated to the loft. The albums went down the dump... (I know)
I'm not even sure why it happened now. I just thought that nobody was making music for me and that I'd better face it, ageing and time for talk only radio.
in my 40's and not dead yet. Way past radio1 and it's non stop banalities and diet of stock aitken and Waterman (now simon cowell) and/or rap/dance and *never* ready for the suburban wasteland that is radio2. My time was over.
Now I'm not saying that it was 6music that changed this bleak outlook, but suddenly something changed. All I know is that they have fed into my renewed passion for music. I have NEVER bought so much, NEVER listened to so much. I have been to concerts, I have 4 *count then4!* full on Hi Fi systems with facilities for every format. I have an iPod that I could not live without.
6music is the Radio 3 for the Rock & Pop generation (a fact I see is being picked up by more and more people) it is clever, passionate, they care about music and what they play. And most importantly they play music for me and people like me, music that is not covered by and other radio station anywhere.
It is thanks to 6music I discovered MUSE.
This cultural vandalism must not happen, and by god if I have anything to do with it, it won't.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
eventually
Everything seems to take way more time then you'd have thought, but at last the ceiling is more or less finished.
I did change to solvent free adhesive and found I had been led astray by my online builder buddies (who would have thought it?) Solvent free far from being the inferior sibling is in fact way better at the job then the hallucination inducing stuff. Maybe builders just like being off their heads. (that explains much)
There is now a vastly reduced visibility hatch to the loft room/loft which is now much bigger, way heavier and looks as impressive as a Sylvia Anderson bank vault door due to the massive slabs of polystyrene insulation glued to the back side.
Now it'll be a trip to Ikea. My stylish 1960's style drum light may look very scandi-stylish but gives a light so dull in that position I just want to kill myself. A common occurrence I find with these horrible compact fluorescent bulbs.
Halogens. That's the only option :-)I used to love proper downlighters, R63 and PAR38 spot bulbs, and what ever happened to parabolic reflectors and track lighting?.. #sigh#
I'm after a pair of speakers on eBay but people keep bidding on them. Even though it's very small bids it's very depressing. I'm not going to say what they are as I'm getting paranoid.
If I get them I'll tell you all about it.
And If I don't I'll still tell you all about it.
But I better had. GRRR!
I did change to solvent free adhesive and found I had been led astray by my online builder buddies (who would have thought it?) Solvent free far from being the inferior sibling is in fact way better at the job then the hallucination inducing stuff. Maybe builders just like being off their heads. (that explains much)
There is now a vastly reduced visibility hatch to the loft room/loft which is now much bigger, way heavier and looks as impressive as a Sylvia Anderson bank vault door due to the massive slabs of polystyrene insulation glued to the back side.
Now it'll be a trip to Ikea. My stylish 1960's style drum light may look very scandi-stylish but gives a light so dull in that position I just want to kill myself. A common occurrence I find with these horrible compact fluorescent bulbs.
Halogens. That's the only option :-)I used to love proper downlighters, R63 and PAR38 spot bulbs, and what ever happened to parabolic reflectors and track lighting?.. #sigh#
I'm after a pair of speakers on eBay but people keep bidding on them. Even though it's very small bids it's very depressing. I'm not going to say what they are as I'm getting paranoid.
If I get them I'll tell you all about it.
And If I don't I'll still tell you all about it.
But I better had. GRRR!
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Stoned
Not as exciting as it sounds.
I'm putting a new ceiling up on the top hall. What that means is gluing pine panelling over the artex that's already there.
Very retro I know, but I am very retro.
The worst thing is the 'no more nails' used to do it with. It's hideously full of solvent, you can almost see the air vibrate as you use it. And very quickly you find your mood changing, and you start getting very clumsy and dizzy. I didn't even think products like that were legal any more.
Incidentally should you ever do this yourself, the trick is not only to stick it to the surface with a 'grab adhesive' (I'd recommend using some other product, preferably water based) but also to glue each plank to the previous using wood glue in the groove. I've seen some horrible shrunken panelling. It never happens to mine.
Of course you could do it the old way with battens and the like and that would avoid possibly falling off the working platform & down the stairs because you are so stoned.
I'm putting a new ceiling up on the top hall. What that means is gluing pine panelling over the artex that's already there.
Very retro I know, but I am very retro.
The worst thing is the 'no more nails' used to do it with. It's hideously full of solvent, you can almost see the air vibrate as you use it. And very quickly you find your mood changing, and you start getting very clumsy and dizzy. I didn't even think products like that were legal any more.
Incidentally should you ever do this yourself, the trick is not only to stick it to the surface with a 'grab adhesive' (I'd recommend using some other product, preferably water based) but also to glue each plank to the previous using wood glue in the groove. I've seen some horrible shrunken panelling. It never happens to mine.
Of course you could do it the old way with battens and the like and that would avoid possibly falling off the working platform & down the stairs because you are so stoned.
Monday, 15 February 2010
What I want
What I want is a limitless tab at Amazon.
I've just had the last fruit of my Christmas Amazon voucher and from now on it's strictly actual money.
This year I've done really well with n'er a wrong move, but I love the feeling that the latest click on 'add to basket' isn't costing actual cash.
What did I get I hear you cry.. well the Arcade Fire, The Big Pink and initial forays into Depeche Mode you already know about
My latest Haul has been more Depeche Mode (wow have I got into them, I hadn't realised what I was missing), The Killers live at the Albert all. I've not heard/seen it yet, but I'm assured it is, well, Killer.
Also the new Massive Attack, Heligoland. I like it. Mezzanine is definitely one of my all time favourite albums and the new Sade, Soldier of Love. People say all her stuff sounds the same. I prefer consistent. Late nights and red wine. Just never play her during daylight hours or you'll feel kind of hung over.
My book haul has been less extensive, none of my favourite authors seems to have anything new right now but I did get This is Not a Game from Walter Jon Williams. It's a kind of game/real life crossover novel like Charles Stross did in Halting State and I loved that. I'd love to find more authors I like so I can feed my habit more reliably.
Especially since Alistair Reynolds has dropped off the list, publishing what I strongly suspect is old garbage he found at the bottom of his reject drawer in the hopes of refilling his credit crunched bank account. Doesn't work Alistair, sorry. I'm not getting caught again.
Next is a 'tv tie in' (GASP) The memoir Beautiful People by Simon Doonan. It was made into a stunning charming and very funny series by the BBC.. And finally The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll. A real life spy/hacker chase thriller through early computer networks by someone who was actually there and really did it. Recommended by this guy on Twitter...
I've just had the last fruit of my Christmas Amazon voucher and from now on it's strictly actual money.
This year I've done really well with n'er a wrong move, but I love the feeling that the latest click on 'add to basket' isn't costing actual cash.
What did I get I hear you cry.. well the Arcade Fire, The Big Pink and initial forays into Depeche Mode you already know about
My latest Haul has been more Depeche Mode (wow have I got into them, I hadn't realised what I was missing), The Killers live at the Albert all. I've not heard/seen it yet, but I'm assured it is, well, Killer.
Also the new Massive Attack, Heligoland. I like it. Mezzanine is definitely one of my all time favourite albums and the new Sade, Soldier of Love. People say all her stuff sounds the same. I prefer consistent. Late nights and red wine. Just never play her during daylight hours or you'll feel kind of hung over.
My book haul has been less extensive, none of my favourite authors seems to have anything new right now but I did get This is Not a Game from Walter Jon Williams. It's a kind of game/real life crossover novel like Charles Stross did in Halting State and I loved that. I'd love to find more authors I like so I can feed my habit more reliably.
Especially since Alistair Reynolds has dropped off the list, publishing what I strongly suspect is old garbage he found at the bottom of his reject drawer in the hopes of refilling his credit crunched bank account. Doesn't work Alistair, sorry. I'm not getting caught again.
Next is a 'tv tie in' (GASP) The memoir Beautiful People by Simon Doonan. It was made into a stunning charming and very funny series by the BBC.. And finally The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll. A real life spy/hacker chase thriller through early computer networks by someone who was actually there and really did it. Recommended by this guy on Twitter...
Friday, 12 February 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
Dee
I have just heard the news about Dee.
She was a lovely very special Lady and one who I would have really loved to meet in real life.
The world is a darker sadder place today.
Farewell.
She was a lovely very special Lady and one who I would have really loved to meet in real life.
The world is a darker sadder place today.
Farewell.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Ballrooms of Mars
The living room floor has just had it's third coat of Ronseal (does exactly what it says on the tin) Diamond hard floor varnish.
Remember in the 70's there was this thing for 'wet look' gloss, only it never really was as as soon as it dried it was bog standard ordinary gloss? Well looks like Ronseal have finally cracked it, if you want your floor to look like there is a thin film of water over it then this is the product :-)
Actually it's gorgeous, it keeps making me think of 'ballrooms of mars' but no one will ever get whats in my head (like the new Marks and Spencer food hall floors make me think of Virginia Plain)
On reading the label, a good idea every now and then, I can't put the rug down for 8 days (hadn't noticed *that*) One day I'll say this damn room is finished and it's not even like I've done anything revolutionary or complicated..
I had been planning on going on about the iPad, but I lost the will to live so I'll make the prediction now and leave it at that. The big thing with it isn't the iPad at all, but what's inside, the A4 processor. A bit like Cyberdyne Industries Apple is going to take over the world I hope it'll be with a better outcome....
Actually I'd like a Mac to replace my scrapheap, but John thinks they are the work of the devil himself.
Remember in the 70's there was this thing for 'wet look' gloss, only it never really was as as soon as it dried it was bog standard ordinary gloss? Well looks like Ronseal have finally cracked it, if you want your floor to look like there is a thin film of water over it then this is the product :-)
Actually it's gorgeous, it keeps making me think of 'ballrooms of mars' but no one will ever get whats in my head (like the new Marks and Spencer food hall floors make me think of Virginia Plain)
On reading the label, a good idea every now and then, I can't put the rug down for 8 days (hadn't noticed *that*) One day I'll say this damn room is finished and it's not even like I've done anything revolutionary or complicated..
I had been planning on going on about the iPad, but I lost the will to live so I'll make the prediction now and leave it at that. The big thing with it isn't the iPad at all, but what's inside, the A4 processor. A bit like Cyberdyne Industries Apple is going to take over the world I hope it'll be with a better outcome....
Actually I'd like a Mac to replace my scrapheap, but John thinks they are the work of the devil himself.
Monday, 25 January 2010
My Horoscope
My Horscope for yesterday said that if I planned well and finished a project then I would have a real sense of achievement and satisfaction (I am paraphrasing of course).
I was trying to work out if there was any situation when you finally finished a project where you would *not* feel a sense of satisfaction and achievement?
Anyway keeping this very much in mind (NOT) I did crack on with the shelves for the living room *and* finally finished them.
Recycling bits of Ikea Besta units had seemed like such a good idea when I thought of it, but if I had realised just how involved and time consuming it was all going to be then I would have just taken the whole lot down the dump and started afresh. My guilt would have dissipated and been forgotten over time... :-)
I'll take some pics as soon as they have something on them and so look more interesting, but they are basically dead thick white shelves with pine edging on adjustable brackets. NOT so complicated, and now they are done I can't imagine what took quite so much effort.
The first one to be finished I thought it looked a bit like an 80's kitchen unit, but I think maybe they do look 70's Scandinavian after all... I'd have liked teak edging, but these days it seems a solid gold/platinum mix would be easier to get hold of and a fair bit cheaper.. (would have looked tacky though, so I rejected that idea)
Now I have to decide what to do with all the rest of the Besta parts..
What's next? well I am going to have to empty the floor area again and refinish the floor - again.
I don't know if you have 'No Nonsense' products where you are, (in the UK sold by Screwfix) but if you do under no circumstances use their acrylic floor varnish. It feels tacky and sticky underfoot (it was applied before Christmas) and scuffs and marks like you would not believe. I'd used their previous product many times but this is just rubbish of the first order.
Actually considering the effort I put in and with such a disappointing (to put it mildly) result I very much doubt I would ever again trust a 'no nonsense' product in any situation.
I complained but of course have heard nothing. Surprised? No.
I was trying to work out if there was any situation when you finally finished a project where you would *not* feel a sense of satisfaction and achievement?
Anyway keeping this very much in mind (NOT) I did crack on with the shelves for the living room *and* finally finished them.
Recycling bits of Ikea Besta units had seemed like such a good idea when I thought of it, but if I had realised just how involved and time consuming it was all going to be then I would have just taken the whole lot down the dump and started afresh. My guilt would have dissipated and been forgotten over time... :-)
I'll take some pics as soon as they have something on them and so look more interesting, but they are basically dead thick white shelves with pine edging on adjustable brackets. NOT so complicated, and now they are done I can't imagine what took quite so much effort.
The first one to be finished I thought it looked a bit like an 80's kitchen unit, but I think maybe they do look 70's Scandinavian after all... I'd have liked teak edging, but these days it seems a solid gold/platinum mix would be easier to get hold of and a fair bit cheaper.. (would have looked tacky though, so I rejected that idea)
Now I have to decide what to do with all the rest of the Besta parts..
What's next? well I am going to have to empty the floor area again and refinish the floor - again.
I don't know if you have 'No Nonsense' products where you are, (in the UK sold by Screwfix) but if you do under no circumstances use their acrylic floor varnish. It feels tacky and sticky underfoot (it was applied before Christmas) and scuffs and marks like you would not believe. I'd used their previous product many times but this is just rubbish of the first order.
Actually considering the effort I put in and with such a disappointing (to put it mildly) result I very much doubt I would ever again trust a 'no nonsense' product in any situation.
I complained but of course have heard nothing. Surprised? No.
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