Qua Pootle ex 5?

More Portugal pics

2009-05-19T11:00:00.008+01:00

Portugal is rad

2009-05-18T17:10:00.002+01:00

We got back from Spain/Portugal on Friday, had a cool time but won't be recommending the 20-hour ferry crossing to anyone else who is unable to take seasickness tablets (I won't go into details) and I'll get round to putting the pics up eventually. But this one reminded me of Dan. It is at the entrance to a 19th c. palace in Sintra, just outside Lisbon, decorated in the very worst possible taste - it reminded me a lot of Neueschwanstein in Germany. But with more tiles.

Annual holiday dilemma

2009-03-31T09:24:00.004+01:00

Yet again Will and I are almost coming to blows over where to go for our final child-free holiday. I can't fly after 28 weeks, so need to go in May really, but Will doesn't want to fly at all. Not sure how much fun sailing/driving long distances whilst pregnant is going to be, and I am desperate for some warmth after last year's washout of a summer. Any suggestions?

Followers

2009-03-27T16:01:00.004Z

Yay! I have a follower! I always knew I was destined for great things. I shall start proclamations and denouncements forthwith. And maybe even some edicts, just for fun.

You have been warned!

Nothing really

2009-02-24T09:22:00.003Z

I just noticed HOW LONG it has been since I actually managed to write anything on here. Wow. So, Christmas and New Year have come and gone, we had some decent snow for once, even in the West country, and I am almost 4 months pregnant. Work has been slow, but is now picking up, I visited Sheffield for the first time, and I am now trying to think where to go for my last child-free holiday. Oh yes, and Tomb Raider Underworld was massively underwhelming.

Exciting stuff, no?

Curses

2008-11-21T12:16:00.002Z

I just heard that Tomb Raider Underworld is not coming out on PS2 (i.e. my only console) until some time (as yet unspecified) next year, not today as I had previously thought. FLAPS! Now what am I going to do in these dark winter months I ask you???

If Will is reading this, what about a Wii for Christmas? Just thought I'd mention it...

Woo and indeed woo!

2008-11-05T08:56:00.002Z

Was woken up this morning at 5am by an excited Will who had watched the US election declared in Obama's favour. Very relieved as despite all the predictions in the press, I always had a nagging doubt that McCain would scrape in, thus dooming us for ever. I will never misoverestimate the American public again after TWO electoral victories for Dubya, but at last they seem to have come to their collective senses.

The next question being, how can W foul up as much as possible before January?

ACDC on tour

2008-10-16T10:00:00.003+01:00

Come see!

I will be buying tickets at 10am tomorrow morning for the London date (14th April) so if you want me to get one please say now!

Still jealous of Neil and Dan going to Maiden, so this cannot be missed. Or I will never be able to hold my head up in rawk circles again (like I have been doing... er... all the time).

"S" is also for "stoopid"

2008-10-13T09:49:00.003+01:00

To carry on from Dan's sterling work in naming the best songs by artists beginning with an "S" (see here), je vous propose:

Swine Fever - Rogue Stallion. The best song never written, despite many attempts by Dan and Will.

Smashing Pumpkins - Soma. Not one I listen to regularly any more, but deeply entrenched in memories of being 17 or so. A lot of people can't get over Billy Corgan's nasal voice, it's true, but for me this is just on the correct side of pomp rock. Plus it has the quiet, quiet, quiet, LOUD stuff* I always enjoy. And I reckon Radiohead pinched said format, so there.

Seasick Steve - Thunderbird. A song about everybody's favourite wine, of course! Seasick Steve was definitely the highlight of last year's End of the Road festival. I'm still not sure how much is an act and how much is authentic, but I ceased to care after about 10 seconds of watching him break his guitar and stomp on a box like a madman. Unlike anyone I've ever seen before.

Stone Roses - Sally Cinnamon. I defy anyone not to like this immediately on hearing it. For some reason I never really got into the Stone Roses -Stone Roses until I came to University, though had previously gone to see them in Brighton when the Second Coming was out (minus Reni, sadly). Again, perhaps it's more the time that this conjures up for me rather than the song itself, but that is true of many songs I guess.

Lynard Skynyrd - Freebird. "What song is it you wanna hear?" Obviously I mean the 20 minute or so live version, taped off my Dad's copy off a friend circa 1993, when I actually realised he had the occasional blast of good taste in music (despite years of Rod Stewart trauma). The circle became complete when he nicked my Pearl Jam tape a couple of years later...

* There must be a technical term for this?

I am old.

2008-09-18T16:15:00.001+01:00

So I turned 30 yesterday and spent the entirety of today gardening, and going to DIY stores. Shoot me now.

2008-08-22T07:13:00.003+01:00

Kate and I went to Longleat a while ago - and the monkeys wrought destruction upon my car; tearing off the rear wash nozzle, so that now the liquid pours down on to the passenger shelf!

Photos!

2008-08-22T06:06:00.004+01:00

The Bank Holiday will be a tester. I am not on Court duty or police station duty for the whole weekend (although I do have to go to police station on Monday). As a consequence of this unusual stretch of freetime, I am trying to think of ways of getting drunk. I believe I will be able to persuade someone to buy me beer in exchange for potatoes/ runner beans. Also I know that after Dad's 60th birthday bash, there are two polypins of Summer Lighting and Crop Circle leftover that no one else wants to drink (they are certainly past their best, but I am fairly desperate). By the way - don't think cupboard is bare. There's a lot of potatoes in there, and I haven't had to consider the "Celebrity Meatloaf" or tinned "Meat" balls yet. There's honey, flour, yeast, powdered custard, powdered Miso soup, instant gravy, cornflour, sugar, rapeseed oil - and other stuff - a world of possibilities.

My Mushroom growing kit is finally showing signs of life (See photo)!

Also made a soup the other day out of all the veg that had gone funny (lettuce, peas, carrots etc.) I bunged them all in the pressure cooker and it made a very nice soup. The pressure cooker is amazing - it performs some kind of magic on food - you can pretty much shove anything in there - and it seems to turn out quite well (the exception being the time I tried to make soup using mainly gone-off red wine from one of those boxes).

When will he crack?

2008-08-20T17:47:00.002+01:00

We have almost run out of tea and coffee. Marmite finished yesterday. And there is a bank holiday, which could prove the ultimate test (unless someone takes pity and swaps potatoes for beer).

I have failed

2008-08-19T08:56:00.002+01:00

Oh no, I hear you cry, how awful. Back to normal food... Will is ploughing on however, and the cupboard is looking bare.

2008-08-18T14:11:00.003+01:00

Bumper spud harvest has enabled me to undertake bartering. Have swapped spuds variously for: eggs, artichoke, meat, cheese, tomatoes. Forgot to take fruit to work today - and so will have to miss lunch. More home-made bread and yoghurt made at weekend. My parents-in-law very kindly brought a chicken around on Sunday, which we roasted and ate together. Absolutely delicious! Accompanied with home-grown spuds, A&C carrots and home-grown runner beans. The carcass is in the pressure cooker becoming stock, which I think that I will use to make a pea and bean soup. All redcurrents from A&C went mouldy before I got to them - should've checked them earlier. Having to drink lots of tea at work to stave off hunger.
Parents gave me some sausages for doing some heavy lifting at the weekend - and so that's tonight's supper sorted.
P.S. I think that Kate may have had enough of this quest - so it may be a solo mission from now on.

2008-08-11T15:34:00.003+01:00

It almost feels like there is too much food in the garden! The box of potatoes shown is from one corner of veg patch. Also pictured is the bread I made on Saturday (nice, but goes stale very quickly - also had to make it round - as only have cake and not loaf baking tin). Looks like spuds for every meal.

2008-08-09T12:49:00.002+01:00

Given the quantity of veg available in Garden (just two potato plants yielded a cardboard box full of spuds on Friday and courgettes coming through fast - see photo), I think that I will move from yoghurt as staple to potatoes - that should firm things up.

Also, went out for meal on Friday night and bought my parents' supper as "thankyou" for taking us on holiday - so that means an extra day on the end. Quest will now complete on 05/09/08.

Have fininshed all bread in house - so I am making my own from flour and yeast that was in cupboard - should be ready by about 16.00.

The Good Life

2008-08-08T15:23:00.006+01:00

I dug up some potatoes for my lunch. Felicity Kendal, you have my permission to BITE ME!

Though my stomach is complaining - I too am blaming the yoghurt. But at least I am not suffering as badly as Will.

2008-08-08T14:01:00.002+01:00

Interesting: quest of non-purchase of food and drink on track (getting bored of fruit lunches). And possible digestive troubles from excess of home-made yogurt (sp?). Went to Boots height and weight machine again; lost weight (14st 10lb as opposed to 15st last week), however same machine informs me that I have lost height! (5'11'' as opposed to 6' - which is how tall it told me I was last week!) I am not certain that I can trust that machine.

2008-08-06T21:08:00.001+01:00

Quest on track. Homemade yoghurt proving very useful. Carrying teabags around during the day, and scabbing hot water for caffeine fix.

2008-08-04T19:11:00.000+01:00

2008-08-04T11:13:00.002+01:00

Re-start:
I must now re-start the quest, as we had guests down at the weekend and Kate persuaded me that it was unacceptable to continue in quest whilst we had visitors. Quest will now run from the 4th Aug to 4th Sept. However, before they arrived on Saturday I did eat some tinned meat from the back of my cupboard calling itself "Bacon Roll". It was very hard to extract from the tin and it had a worrying texture and colour. I fried it, and it tasted like a very dry Sausage McMuffin, with a leathery texture. It is, however, passable (meaning that I have passed it - rather than it being subject to a "rejection").

I am me!

2008-08-02T10:51:00.001+01:00

2008-08-02T06:56:00.002+01:00

Failure - last night I failed! As with so many of life's mistakes, this one was made under the influence of alcohol.
Doing really well - was very hungry on return from work, but filled up on toast (the last loaf that I will not have to make myself) and stale breadsticks from the cupboard. Also very passable cup of tea made from "second-use" tea bag.
Later on I started to make my evening meal - a vegetable curry made entirely from veg from the veg box. However, I had just taken a very annoying work call, which threatened to see me working at the weekend and not getting paid for it. That annoyed me. In a fit of pique I hunted out the last non-spirit alcohol in the house; a bottle of Chianti that had been a gift. Opened - very pleasant. Drank almost all of it whilst cooking to compensate for annoying work situation. Ate curry. Then persuaded Kate to come to the pub with me - where I purchased two pints of lager. That constitutes a failure in my quest - a day must be added to the end! Co-incidentally I compounded my errors by purchasing over-priced fags from fag machine and smoking them - and then getting stuck into the Calvados on return home. (It was Friday night). I now have a hangover.

2008-08-01T16:10:00.001+01:00

In response to Dan's question:
I understand that the "Curing" or "Leatherising" process is designed to encourage the formation of sugars, in order to stop the food tasting so astrigent. I think that it is a sort of forced ripening. WillP.S. I am quite hungry already

Someone has nicked your idea of the self-purge

2008-08-01T12:45:00.001+01:00

A new contender

Compete! I dare you! Mwa ha ha ha (Kate)

2008-08-01T07:44:00.004+01:00

Breakfast: Coffee (less strong than usual - as will have to carefully ration it) also black - to preserve milk for ongoing "rolling culture" of yoghurt.

Leftover smoothie

Homemade rhubarb yoghurt - rhubarb from garden - initially tried this last night, was eyewateringly sour - now have added a good deal of sugar, and is now palatable.

Am taking banana and orange to Court (where I will be all day as Court duty solicitor) - no time to prepare anything else.

Photos: check on my potato patch! I may be getting most of carbs from here. Also apple tree (green mass beyond roof) - fruit not ready, but fallers can be made palatable by thinly slicing and allowing to "cure" for a few days, or by pounding, mashing and allowing to dry into a "fruit leather" (according to Ray Mears' Wild Food book).

2008-07-31T14:50:00.003+01:00

In the interests of being "Scientific" about this trial I went to Boots and paid 50p to be insulted by the weighing machine. Today I am 6" tall (flattery), 15stone exaclty (insult), and have a BMI on 28.5; overweight (insult). Let's see whether a month of not exchanging money for food and drink improves my stats! Will (Kate joined me as an authour - but I don't know how to sign in - so I'll just sign off with my name to avoid confusion).

2008-07-31T13:29:00.002+01:00

In preparation for this food trial - I have successfully learned how to create yoghurt. And I am cultivating mushrooms in a "mushroom kit" - should be ready in about two weeks. I think that I will also dig up all the potatoes from the garden - which should yield quite a few kilos. Tonight is my last night without any food constrictions - and so I am going to Pizza Express.

2008-07-24T10:29:00.000+01:00

P.s. the mission does include drink as well

Will is using Kate's blog

2008-07-24T10:15:00.002+01:00

Hello,

I am typing into the world of internet ot bring you my story of non-pecuniary related food acquisition in the month of August. I will still be getting the delivery of Small Organic box from Abel and Cole and also milk delivery. The only criteria I have set for myself is not to purchase food from a point of sale in August by means of exchange of money. I can barter (e.g. surfeit of apples for honey), farm (e.g. potatoes from veg patch - see ace pic of Dan - if I can get the photo thing to work), rely on freeganism (e.g. my parents will certainly have more courgettes than they can eat or preserve at this time of year), and forage (e.g. blackberries are beginning to appear).

Will is to hijack my blog

2008-07-24T09:21:00.001+01:00

Will is going to be taking us back to the dark ages on some kind of quest to piss me off. I will let him elaborate, as he will using this blog to spread his evil mission. See you in a month.

Croatia = rad

2008-07-09T14:01:00.003+01:00

Why did I come back to sit at my desk and watch the rain pouring down my window, why why why??? PS final photo is Will's cousin James (in foreground) with his brand new wife, Tania. At 6.30am the next day. After having been up all night.

List of books that I may have read

2008-05-20T11:29:00.003+01:00

OK so now I am copying Neil, Tom and Dan, so here goes with the list (I refuse to call it a meme). Just so you know, I have a bit of a problem with "canonical" works - who gets to choose them? And what bias is there? And how in God's name did Dan Brown get in???

PS: the code is red for those I have read, asterisked for more than once, blue for those I want to read, and green for those started but never finished. 44:13:9, fact fans.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Anna Karenina

Crime and Punishment

Catch-22*

One Hundred Years of Solitude*

Wuthering Heights*

The Silmarillion

Life of Pi: A Novel

The Name of the Rose

Don Quixote

Moby Dick

Ulysses

Madame Bovary

The Odyssey*

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Eyre

A Tale of Two Cities

The Brothers Karamazov

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

War and Peace

Vanity Fair

The Time Traveller’s Wife

The Iliad

Emma

The Blind Assassin

The Kite Runner

Mrs. Dalloway

Great Expectations

American Gods

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Atlas Shrugged

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Memoirs of a Geisha

Middlesex

Quicksilver

Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

The Canterbury Tales

The Historian

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man*

Love in the Time of Cholera

Brave New World*

The Fountainhead

Foucault’s Pendulum

Middlemarch

Frankenstein*

The Count of Monte Cristo

Dracula*

A Clockwork Orange

Anansi Boys

The Once and Future King

The Grapes of Wrath

The Poisonwood Bible

1984*

Angels & Demons

The Inferno

The Satanic Verses

Sense and Sensibility

The Picture of Dorian Gray*

Mansfield Park

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

To the Lighthouse

Tess of the D’Urbevilles

Oliver Twist*

Gulliver’s Travels*

Les Misérables

The Corrections

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Dune

The Prince

The Sound and the Fury

Angela’s Ashes

The God of Small Things

A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present

Cryptonomicon

Neverwhere

A Confederacy of Dunces

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Dubliners*

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Beloved

Slaughterhouse Five*

The Scarlet Letter

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

The Mists of Avalon

Oryx and Crake : A Novel

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Cloud Atlas

The Confusion

Lolita

Persuasion

Northanger Abbey

The Catcher in the Rye

On the Road

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Freakonomics

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The Aeneid

Watership Down

Gravity’s Rainbow

The Hobbit*

In Cold Blood

White Teeth

Treasure Island

David Copperfield*

The Three Musketeers

Flange-mounted active probe

2008-05-07T13:32:00.001+01:00

Yes, that's what I'm working on. Snarf.

Birthday approaching... fast!

2008-04-08T15:00:00.003+01:00

OK, not fast. More like in September. But that's no reason not to come up with a ludicrously over-complicated plan right now!

I am thinking of coming up to London (madness I know) and either hiring somewhere out to put on a Labyrinth-themed 80s Venetian ball*:

* For which I have found a supplier of masks. But no big hair yet, excluding my own of course.

Otherwise I have heard tell of a night called Guilty Pleasures, at Koko, and it has been suggested that with my eclectic (OK, indiscriminate and sometimes crap) taste in music this might be an option.

Thoughts on a postcard please!

Hay Festival - 22nd May onwards

2008-03-05T11:16:00.001Z

I want to go to the Hay Festival this year, but have heard rumours that it is almost impossible to find accommodation. But I have a tent.

Anyone been/going this year? Advice welcome.

sickly child

2008-02-28T12:51:00.003Z

So yesterday I spent most of the day lying on my sofa between trips to the loo to be sick. And why? No booze or dodgy food consumed the previous day (the same as Will, who is fine), so 'tis a mystery. Hope none of last weekend's guests have succombed to same.

Also have found potential next stop for pan-European tour, a town in Albania called Puke. I kid you not.

In other news, I am trying to plan a visit to Dubrovnik in the summer, anyone been there?

House = new

2008-02-14T17:15:00.003Z

So we've moved. Devizes seems nice so far, with a rad deli which sells chocolate faberge eggs amongst other things, and proper butchers etc. Also we have milk delivered in glass bottles(!), something I've not seen for many years. This makes up for the semi-constant drone of the firing range which is apparently very close. Nothing like a chorus of RPGs to help me concentrate on my extra boring work. Or maybe it's not the army, I forgot it was half-term.

Also I have spoken to several neighbours already, thus beating my London score of 3 in 3 years in a mere 3 weeks. I've even invited some round - it seemed like the thing to do. But Will has caused us to be self-exiled from our local, didn't take long.

But it's bastard cold outside the protective smogzone, and I can't seem to keep the fire going. In fact my extreme ineptitude in the face of owning a home is now coming to the fore - I couldn't find the gas meter until yesterday, and have so far managed to change one light bulb and sand down one shelf (piece of timber at the moment, I speak for its future use). I have been looking at the garden hopefully, but not actually doing anything in it yet. Like planting seeds in the enormo veg garden. Or constructing the compost bin rather than using plastic bags which keep it nice and stinky.

Which all begs the question, please can someone with an ounce of sense come and stay and teach me how to be an actual grown-up? No, Dan, this does not mean you.

update

2008-02-12T14:56:00.000Z

Yeah, yeah, moved house dinni???

False economy

2007-10-29T17:06:00.000Z

Buying a hand blender (to make soup) from Tesco for £3.96 + waiting to get home before reading instructions including that old chestnut DO NOT USE IN HOT LIQUIDS x deciding to go ahead anyway = kitchen painted in parsnip and apple soup and a funny smell.

DOH!

Sardinia

2007-10-26T09:42:00.000+01:00

Went to Sardinia the week before last, quite a random destination courtesy of Ryanair's foolishly low prices. We stayed in Alghero, on the North-East coast, a medieval walled city, which was pleasant without being particularly memorable. However there was sunshine, which was the point of the trip, as having been starved of it all summer (including August's trip to Scotland) I was feeling a little peaky.

Ate some nice seafood (no sardines though) and plenty of ice cream, and even managed to coerce Will into swimming in the sea at one point, as it is clear and beautiful all around the coast.

My bad

2007-09-18T19:01:00.000+01:00

Apologies again for being so rubs at keeping this up-to-date. In news, I am working on my first freelance job, which is going well, although I seem to be able to distract myself very easily despite the fact that I'm not getting paid by the hour people! (Thanks, Apone)

Went to End of the Road festival at the weekend, handily only 10 mins away from my parents house, as we got rained out on Friday night, so slept in car/crashed at theirs for a couple of hours on Saturday morning. Otherwise had a great time, personal highlights were Architecture in Helsinki, Seasick Steve, and The Bees. Think I might lay off the cider for a while though...

Also we are finally coming up to London at the weekend, after what seems an age since we've seen many people not in our immediate families, what with all the weddings this summer. So hopefully will see some Stokey types, do give us a bell!

Work, or not

2007-08-17T14:43:00.000+01:00

Unemployment beckons again in a few days' time, though sadly I have failed to ensure the weather is as good as it was for my last 6 weeks off last summer. And I don't have travelling to look forward to, but instead the yawning abyss of poverty and withdrawal from society as I emulate Dan by going freelance. See you on the other side, suckas!

I am Scolar

2007-06-25T14:24:00.000+01:00

With the newly discovered love of, nay obsession with, facebook currently taking over my working hours, I realise I may have rather rudely neglected my blog for some time now. So, to business:

I am shortly going to Scotland (for the first time) to Edinburgh festival, and wondered if anyone might have any tips for enjoying said event? Also after the weekend there we are heading to the Highlands, and again, anyone know where would be cool to drop by? We were planning on doing a lot of (well, some) walking but this may turn out to be rather weather-dependent, and on this month's evidence I may be regretting the choice of summer hol venue...

Will's 30th Birthday

2007-04-23T13:16:00.000+01:00

For those of you not on Facebook, a note on behalf of my lord and master:

Birthday

It will be celebrated on the first full moon after the summer solstice (June 30, fact fans) in the field opposite Will's house in Salisbury. We are hoping to have some kind of fire going, presumably lit without the aid of matches, round which to sing songs and generally behave like pagans. No change there, then. We will be camping in the field, with or without the van, and foraging for food of course. Release your inner hippy!

Bad, badder, baddest

2007-04-19T12:59:00.000+01:00

Top 5 worst films of all time:

Dude where's my car? - The only time I almost (but not quite) walked out of a cinema, despite being pissed
Days of Thunder - A Lockwood recommendation which failed to score on the promised whoop-o-meter
Punch Drunk Love - Adam Sandler, nuff said
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original of course) - Not so much bad as unwatchable
Flashdance - You may not believe this, but I had such high hopes...

And I usually love bad films. Or so I get told. Looking forward to a sequel-tastic summer with which to update this list though! My money's on Die Hard 4.0

WTF?

2007-04-04T12:59:00.000+01:00

File under "Freddie Starr"

When will this madness end?

Monday boredom

2007-04-02T13:16:00.000+01:00

This afternoon I am mostly laughing at Charlie Brooker while batting away the sinking realisation of the fact that I have way too much work than it is possible to do in this short week.

I know, let's go on the internet then! That will help I'm sure.

Had a cool weekend with Rachel and Dan, which makes work seem even worse - I still haven't thought of a way to get paid for doing something I would choose to do anyway. If only there was a way of making money out of inane commentary... Wait a minute! I think some people actually get to do this! Bastards.

last.fm 1.0

2007-03-23T14:34:00.000Z

Because I now drive to work in a 106 with a suitably crap stereo, I have been forced to rediscover the beauty of tapes. As I stopped making them/being made them as late as 2004, some of the songs are what might be loosely termed as modern popular music, but the cream comes from way earlier.

Currently top of my pops include:

pretty much the whole of Now 10 Tape 1
Velvet Pants: Propellorheads
Pussy Control: Prince
Thunderstruck: AC/DC

Stone the crows

2007-03-14T13:28:00.000Z

If anyone wishes to perform an entire body purge, I direct you to this offering in the name of Joss:

gagfest

If you get to the end and manage to hold down your lunch I will be impressed!

Chariddee

2007-02-28T13:15:00.000Z

Please sponsor Ryley Junior, the poor lamb is running again (I must stop letting the dog after her!):

running scared

Bling Janus

2007-02-17T12:15:00.000Z

Or, the two faces of bling, as modelled at Ruth's party recently: can you tell which of the two girls grew up in Bognor?

Gebirtsdag

2007-02-15T12:41:00.000Z

I know it's not for a while yet, but Will's 30th is approaching steadily(May 2nd) and we thought we might celebrate his imminent dementia/bus pass years with some sort of party. The idea is to drag people kicking and screaming down to the countryside for a paganistic bacchanal near Solstice time (that's mid-June) involving tents, camp fires and possibly even some booze. Will be in touch with more information shortly via email to include all those who lack the taste to peruse this mighty organ of K-news. And, yes, I know this is a little unspecific, just keep June free OK!

Employment

2007-02-08T13:04:00.000Z

Yes, fact fans, I now have a job at last. Still in publishing despite not being in London (hurrah!) but involving a 1hr 40mins drive each way (boo!) through snow this morning (hurrah again!)

Not sure how much personal email I can get away with so will be using old email address still for the time being.

Work seems fine so far (through caffeine-enhanced buzz) though I have an author meeting tomorrow which could go either way, as I'll have to blag some kind of knowledge of his subject (Electrical Regulations - urghh) and of course the company I now work for. Might be unemployed again by next week! I can only hope.

Gay?

2007-01-25T11:53:00.000Z

For some reason I have totally gone off the Mears new series. Oops Will just read that.

Morrissey in Euro-cheese shame

2007-01-09T13:01:00.000Z

Please, please make this so. In fact a duet would be nice, perhaps Jennifer Ellison is free? Something to brighten the dark, dank days of January. Though reading my new Smash Hits decannual(?) of the 80s (thanks D&R) apparently Morrissey and Pete Burns were best buds back then, so a collaboration of a different sort might be on the cards. The mind boggles...

Merry Christmas all

2006-12-29T10:05:00.000Z

I realise it's slightly late but I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forwards to the New Year. A couple of photos to amuse - I received some bootees (yes, really) from my parents, as did my sister. An odd choice perhaps, but they are indeed warm, and of course at the cutting edge of fashion.

But the most amazing thing ever was the joy that is SingStar - if there wasn't already reason enough to leave London for the beauty of the countryside and of course the company of les Griffs then there is now! T&E this means you. I still haven't forgotten being humbled to the strains of Belinda Carlisle - it's payback time. And of course I won't spend my jobless days practising like a maniac...

In sadder news W and I have decided to forgo drinking for January once again, so as well as being foul weatherwise we shall no doubt complain about the lack of booze to compensate for being cooped up indoors. Again, SingStar will have to come to the rescue, though sober karaoke is not something I have hitherto been familiar with.

And no more of this then.

Kept in the dark

2006-12-20T17:17:00.000Z

Apparently Will has been moonlighting and actually using his Classics degree:

Will in using degree shocker

Sadly the "Latin lovers" of the title didn't quite turn out to be Gael Garcia Bernal etc. as I had hoped. But more to the point, I knew married couples were supposed to keep secrets from each other but still! I suppose I shall now have to tell him I was born a man.

New writing career beckons

2006-12-04T15:06:00.000Z

Finally got an email published on the Guardian OBO site!! Day two, afternoon session for those who can be bothered to seek it out, closely following Rachel's comment. Ah the glory... although they did seem to think I would be embarrassed for some reason, obviously unaware of my utter lack of shame. Still slightly recovering from very late nights required to "watch" the Ashes (internet-only, no Sky), and of course the alcholic facilitator of said nights' wakefulness.

Had an altogether pleasant stay in London, managing to see lots of people over the weekend, but was forced to cope with the vagaries of non-tube public transport, misanthropy-inducing crowds, those charming yellow murder signs ("were you here on ...?") and grime. Although I can complain about being stuck out here when bored on my own, I can finally admit I am glad we moved out of London - well that's only taken me two years! Now for the next stage in my master plan, to encourage others to move out too.

Pies

2006-11-23T16:29:00.000Z

Maybe it's just because I'm bored, sitting at home all day by myself (sniff sniff!) but I loved this.

"pies are supposed to be meat and potato and anything else just isn't normal"

Oh, how I agree. PS has anyone got Sky? No real reason...

The End.

2006-11-16T11:07:00.000Z

We're back at home now, after managing to leave Nimes the following day, stopping at Limoges (joyous Campanile) and then my parents' place near Saumur. Managed to book a crossing for Sunday from Le Havre to Portsmouth and arrived back in Salisbury at about 11.30pm. V tired but glad the van made it - worked out we have travelled almost 15,oookm in total, through 12 countries. And only one breakdown!!

I've managed to catch a cold immediately on returning, though it's actually warmer here than it was in France, so now it's just a question of filling in the time until the Ashes start. I suppose some sort of employment will be in order, worse luck. Anyway this blog will now revert to the irregular updating of shafts of wisdom (or pictures of funny animals) and so your European correspondent signs off.

Italy photos - Verona

2006-11-08T15:55:00.000Z

Italy photos - Venice

2006-11-08T15:35:00.000Z

Suggest anyone who wants to visit goes there quick, as it is already sinking fast

Photos again - Croatia

2006-11-07T16:39:00.000Z

Split, also countryside around

Yet more photos, this time from Hungary

2006-11-07T14:05:00.000Z

Statue Park = ace

Thermal lake, Heviz

Communist-style campsite

Photos from Austria

2006-11-07T13:51:00.000Z

Wiping bugs off the windscreen (not a pleasant task)

Stadtpark, Vienna

Karlskirche, Vienna,outside which some teen band (Kpunkt?) were performing

Le Mistral

2006-11-02T13:57:00.000Z

Holed up in Nimes as we are unable to drive the van due to 100km/hour winds, yes, we have hit the famous Mistral. Unable to visit the Camargue as well, as we were very nearly blown off the road this morning, so decided to sit it out, having made a whopping 25km today when we meant to do 300km. Annoying but at least we are still in one piece (each, technically!) as it was seriously scary at some points. Hopefully we will be on the road again by Saturday, as Will needs to be at work next week! The very thought...

Poland photos

2006-10-31T20:00:00.000Z

Outside Polish supermarket comparing car sizes

Hotel fire instructions in Jaworzno, see line 2

Outside Krakow Cathedral, Wawel Hill

Kate in Krakow Castle Cafe

Krakow Cloth Hall

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Italy

2006-10-31T19:52:00.000Z

Am facing a massive backlog of stuff now having spent the last week in Italy going sightseeing crazy, what with running out of time and all (I know, smug still) so a quick ready reckoner;

Venice - flooded. Couldnt walk anywhere or get into Basilica and almost ruined shoes. How they sell suede in this town I do not know. Apart from that, though, really cool to wander around, esp. once we managed to lose the ever-present American tourists talking about how much they missed their X-boxes. Wanted to shake them and scream "youre in Venice!"

Verona - calmer but cool. Lots of Roman stuff esp. Arena, must come back and watch something here next year. Stayed on Lake Garda which was beautiful.

Florence - slightly disappointing as v hectic, and also went there on a monday which meant the Uffizi amongst other things was shut. Santa Croce amazing though. Also having problems getting around as I managed to deck it and smash up my knee - doh! OK now though.

San Remo - nice campsite. Only arrived a couple of hours ago!

Pictures from Germany

2006-10-21T17:22:00.000+01:00

Crossing the border from Germany into Czech Republic

Pragerstrasse, Dresden

Karl Marx statue, Chemnitz

Obligatory bratwurst in Nurnberg

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest mk II

Hungary and Croatia

2006-10-21T17:14:00.000+01:00

Spent a couple of very weird days in Budapest - found the language utterly impenetrable, and unfortunately for us most people's second language is German rather than English. But it's a beautiful city, empty of tourists at this time of year so we wandered around Buda castle practically by ourselves. Really interesting historical museum which completely blanked out any part of the Soviet years apart from one room showing photos of the 1956 uprising, despite having gone into plenty of detail about every other era from prehistory onwards.

Not to be put off, we went to the Statue Park, outside the city, where they have resurrected a lot of the Communist statues which were originally in the city itself. From our point of view it seemed incredibly kitsch, and they seemed to know it as all the souvenirs were "amusing" in some way or other, but I saw some elderly people obviously very upset by the memories it brought back. Very odd indeed. Would recommend a visit in the future, as they are in the process of building a museum there which would put them in context.

On the way to Croatia we stopped off at the southern tip of Lake Balaton and swam outside in a thermal lake - really weird feeling, as the air temperature was 8C but the water was 27C. Also there were waterlilies growing in it and an all-pervading whiff of egg. Getting out into the cold was an ordeal though, as you can imagine!

Blasted through Croatia to Split without stopping in Zagreb as we had originally planned, as running out of time (only 2 weeks left!) and also it was freezing up in the mountains. Went through a couple of 5km plus tunnels and emerged into the sunshine finally. Diocletian's Palace is amazing, didn't realise the scale of it before we got here! Thought about going to the islands for a day but the weather has turned bad again, but did manage to meet up with another of Will's cousins and his girlfriend for dinner, which was cool. Finally got to have some seafood after a month of little other than pork and dumplings! Driving up towards Slovenia then Venice, Verona and Florence in Italy, then Avignon and the Camargue, then home. I am still touching wood about the van making it back, obviously! As long as there's no rain or mountains to cross... Photos will eventually follow, as per usual.

pictures from Czech Rep

2006-10-20T17:52:00.000+01:00

Kate and Rachel learning Polish in an underground restaurant in Frydek Mistek (or Fried egg mistake as we insisted on calling it)

Excellent Soviet-era Lada - one of many
Mucha stained glass window in Prague Cathedral and random statue in Prague

Poland to Austria

2006-10-20T17:27:00.000+01:00

Have been incredibly lame at updating this I realise, sorry! OK, about a month ago we went to Krakow, which was lovely, reminded me of Prague in some ways but without so many tourists and tat vendors. Roads in Poland terrible, with potholes and extreme rutting, so we nearly shook the van to pieces. Went to the salt mines in Wielicza which are quite kitsch - a lot of gnomes sulptured out of salt - but also amazing cathedral all underground carved from salt as well. Dropped off Dan and Rachel at the airport then crossed 3 borders in one day in epic drive through Czech Rep. and Slovakia to Austria. Stayed in Vienna (well outside in the forest nearby) which had loads of cool Baroque buildings but was v expensive compared to all the places we had been to recently.

Germany and Czech Republic

2006-10-06T12:51:00.000+01:00

First of all Germany - we headed for Munich for Oktoberfest which rocked our world(s?) - lots of drinking steins of beer and dancing on tables to an odd mixture of traditional songs and Bon Jovi medleys. Munich itself is really cool, lots of people in lederhosen and dirndls which pleased me greatly. After recovering from our hangovers we then went to Neuschwanstein, a fairytale castle near the Austrian border which was cool in a kitsch sort of way, but unfortunately it was v misty so we couldn´t see the Alps behind. Then went to Nuremberg and ate a lot of sausages (a running theme throughout the country) and walked around the city walls and old town. Tried to get some small adjustments to the van in a place called Chemnitz where we were helped out by a man who turned out to be another customer, but realised we cannot fix the ongoing gas bottle problem (long story, not dangerous but annoying) until we are back in the UK.

Then spent a lovely day in Dresden, which has been rebuilt and restored massively after WWII but all the old buildings are still blackened with smoke. Went on a big wheel ride like the London Eye for views of the whole city. Will did not make this, with his ´´entirely rational´´ fear of heights but Rachel, Dan and I did, with some German old man who kept muttering to himself.

Crossed the border into the Czech Republic with little fuss then realised no Euro so had to reconvert our brains to deal with Korunas instead. Felt pretty cool carrying around 1000 Kč notes (worth about 25 quid)! Prague was lovely, not as touristy as I had feared apart from the Charles Bridge area, then we went on to Brno in the south east and then stopped in Olomoucs for about an hour as it was getting dark and driving at night is not much fun. Stayed over in a brutally East European motel one night, over-advertised massively in the brochure they leave in your room - but they forgot to mention the overriding odour of pigshit for some reason. Weird, I know.

Off to Krakow tomorrow, from where Dan and Rachel are leaving us to fly back home. Will hopefully get some more photos up soon.

Sorry for missing weeks...

2006-09-28T12:00:00.000+01:00

First of all the problems encountered in Portugal, this time in visual format:

Managed to blast through Galicia and the whole north coast of Spain in two days so that we were in time to meet Rachel and Dan in Bordeaux, sadly unable to sample the culinary delights as much as we had hoped, but squeezed in an afternoon in Santiago de Compostela (sneered at by pilgrims because of our lack of bags and staffs etc and obvious tourist demeanour!) and had lunch in rather nicer place than our usual efforts in San Sebastian, despite the pouring rain. This is the facade of the Cathedral in Santiago:

Rain followed us in fact all the way to Bordeaux and beyond, though I did have a lovely birthday and it was really cool meeting up with my family even though it was just for a few hours - made up for that with lovely dinner and much wine, mmmm.

Got some prezzies too, which I was allowed to open despite being technically the night before my actual birthday, but I'm sure the time difference made that OK...

Didn't see a lot of Bordeaux as it rained the entire time and we couldn't park anywhere in the centre, so headed north east through France to Chartres, which was beautiful, and then Versailles which was gaudy and wrong, some kind of MTV cribs pastiche way ahead of its time. Impressive though, if just in scale. Proof we were in France: the mighty Johnny Hallyday, in tat format. And Dan.

We love Portugal

2006-09-14T12:48:00.000+01:00

But it doesn´t love the van. We couldn´t get started one morning so had to call a mechanic the next day (obviously they don´t work on Sundays) and then after we were finally on the road again we had a blow-out on the back right hand tyre just as we were about to cross the border into Spain. Luckily some really nice Portuguese people (who spoke English AND were handy under the bonnet) helped us out each time, otherwise we would have had to stay there for good - not so bad, on the Atlantic coast... Photos to follow. So basically had to bomb it back through Galicia, only stopping briefly in Santiago de Compostela and over night in San Sebastian (which is wetter than Bristol, though people are still swimming in the sea) before heading up to France again. Will let you know if we get there! Love to all K and W xx

Photos so far

2006-09-14T12:19:00.000+01:00

Finally found somewhere to do photos, so here are a selection, up to September 9:

Toledo cathedral

Will at Benicassim campsite

Charlie, Will and Ben at Pacha in Torrevieja

Kate eating pudding with what looks like washing up liquid poured on it

Meal out with Will´s cousins in Tossa de Mar

Will "El Capitaine" driving the camper

Salamanca

2006-09-08T13:18:00.000+01:00

Have just about recovered from almost a week in Torrevieja with Ben and Charlie - had a really good time and even managed to persuade Will to come to Pacha! Lots of late nights though, as they don´t shut their bar until the last person leaves... But since then we have been to Toledo which was fantastic, and Madrid for an afternoon - got pissed off with hecticness and traffic, plus parking the van was a nightmare! Maybe another time we´ll go by train. Also decided not to go to Lisbon for the same reason, so now we are heading north west to Galicia, spending last night in Avila and a couple of hours today in Salamanca. They are having some kind of fiesat which means everyone is dressed up in traditional garb trying to peddle "authentic" tat - my kind of scene as you know. Still no photo facilities here, sorry, but will try to send some soon.

Van is doing OK but has developed a certain odour over the last few weeks - not sure entirely what this is due to but I have my suspicions (Will+Thetford=mayhem). Sorry to have missed Dan and Simon´s birthdays, hope all had a cool time. Weather is still boiling hot, and we had a cool electrical storm the night before last - although we were out in it so had to speedwalk home - I can´t run in soggy flipflops. Love to all, K&W xx

Tarragona

2006-08-30T10:30:00.000+01:00

Is a really lovely place we spent a few hours in yesterday, recovering from a late night out in Tossa with Chris and Jack - we ended up hitching home to the campsite as there were no taxis that late - oops! I have some stupid photos but again no facility to put them up yet - I´ll try again later. Been driving down the Costas Brava and Alzahar on our way to Alicante - I think this is when things could take a turn for the surreal and am a little scared. I saw Giles when he came back from there a while ago!

Stayed in Benicassim last night which seems v pleasant, but strangely empty, as I think all the Spanish kids have gone back to school. Nicer for us, but I am a little worried that not all campsites will be open all year round, still, it´s nice not to have to bother with actual holiday camps any more! Time for more wild camping I reckon.

Will has been playing one song on the guitar for the whole three weeks so far. I am beginning to go mad, and am seriously thinking about selling it to some urchin... Apart from that everything is cool, no fights yet!!

Please let me know any gossip from home, and also email your address if you would like some kind of utterly tasteful postcard. This means you, Lizzie, as I have been sitting on one for two weeks not able to send it!

Love ´n´ stuff

K ´n´ W

Tossa de Mar...

2006-08-27T16:07:00.000+01:00

...is where we have got to now, just near Lloret de Mar, which is hideous. But Tossa is actually very nice, lovely campsite, clean beaches etc. Had nice day in Girona, medieval city but not nearly as packed as Carcassonne was, and now have met up with Will´s cousins the Croissants. Will update in more detail later as running out of credit aaargghhh!!

no habla espagnol

2006-08-24T17:18:00.000+01:00

We have finally crossed the border into Spain, after visiting Carcassonne (incredibly busy and touristy but still cool) and Narbonne plage, where we were treated to a beach-side concert by some kind of banjo playing band despite the rain which is still following us wherever we go. Will is being plagued by the lack of adequate public toilet facilities, though we are hoping a change of country may remedy this. I won´t go into details. Sorry have forgotten camera again so no more photos, but I will update soon.

We are currently in Figueres, Catalunya, hoping to go to the Dali museum, and then heading on to Girona tomorrow. Also if anyone fancies a trip to Bordeaux I will be celebrating my birthday there with my family and Rachel and Dan - I know it´s a bit of a way but still thought I´d mention it! Will be going out somewhere on 16th Sept (a Saturday) then my actual birthday is the following day.

About to try and find out if there are any bands playing the continent while we are here - if anyone has any tips please let us know. I´ve heard AC/DC are often on tour...

La Chenaie

2006-08-19T13:31:00.000+01:00

Hi, we are at my parents' house after spending two days "wild camping" i.e. not at a campsite which is great from a financial point of view, being free, and also meant that we weren't surrounded by screaming kids the whole time, but we did have several issues like running out of electricity and water. Just minor details then. And after having been a party to the emptying of the Thetford toilet cassette (retching the whole time I'm afraid) there is now a no stool rule, which meant sprinting into town as soon as the cafes opened on a couple of occasions. I don't think we will be welcomed back to Rochefort-en-Terre unfortunately, as this was only the epilogue to an evening spent drinking with a French Elvis impersonator and his entourage--much bad Franglais ensued.

Anyway, a couple of pics so far (mostly of Cornwall, but more to follow)...

Nous sommes en France

2006-08-15T20:01:00.000+01:00

Bienvenue au blog francais. Not really. My French isn't up to it, and I am struggling with the French keyboard which is different. We are staying in a posh campsite in Brittany near Quimper, and think we have finally got the iPod working - result! But I can't put up any pictures as there is no available USB port, so I will leave you all with bated breath (again). Had to leave the ferry at 7am English time so both of us nearly fell asleep and had to pull over by the side of the road for a nap earlier, but at last I have actually driven the camper rather than being chauffered around by Will.

Last night's sojourn in Plymouth was an experience we won't be repeating - once we got over the Scouse crack whores at the docks we then had our dinner soundtrack provided by joyriding children screaming racist abuse at passers-by. Roscoff seemed much tamer by comparison, although I suppose it was a little early for any debauchery when we drove through this morning. Hoping to be at La Chenaie by the weekend, also if anyone fancies a trip to Galicia we are hoping to be there during the first week of September. Will be more precise soon, I promise!

Love K and W xx

Bye bye England, Bonjour la belle France!

2006-08-14T16:36:00.000+01:00

Sorry no photo as I have forgotten to bring my camera in (dunce!) but have had a lovely week in Cornwall - partly prompted by an amount of work needed on the van and also the need for more supplies such as legal requirements for leaving the country (oops), food, you know, boring details. Saw a lot of Pete and was impressed by his extreme level of Cornish nationalism, culminating in a tirade against some imperialist pig infiltrators (Morris dancers crossing the "border" from Devon). Lots of coastal walks and early nights I'm afraid - the trip is certainly lacking in debauchery so far, partly due to the fact that as we are usually reliant on solar lighting, once that fails we have no choice but to go to bed immediately. We are getting the ferry to Roscoff tonight, and then pootling down the west coast of Brittany towards Rochefort-en-Terre, then heading for my parents' place at the weekend. I use the word "pootle" advisedly as we have real trouble getting up hills. And going down hills. And driving on the level. Enough of that, I'm sure I will moan on later, but Istanbul is looking less and less likely. And by the way Lindsay, you are the only one I know, so you don't have to use a dodgy prefix to your name in the comments! Love to all, Kate 'n' Will xxx

The Mystery Machine

2006-08-07T11:54:00.000+01:00

So today is the first day of my and Will's journey round Europe for three months, in this beautiful beast:

So far ideas for his name have revolved around variations on a German theme: Dieter, Jurgen etc etc, but if anyone thinks of any more please let us know.

First stop is as far as Taunton(!) to pick up supplies from a motorhome dealer, then onwards to Cornwall and hopefully France by the end of the week. Then on to Alicante, to see Ben and Charlie, back up to Galicia and then to Bordeaux to meet up with fellow travellers (or work-shy meisters) Dan and Rachel.

I will attempt to keep this blog up-to-date to let anyone who is interested in coming to see us know our rough itinerary, but to the probable surprise of absolutely no-one we are a bit vague still! Also I believe Giles will be keeping some kind of book as to how far we actually get - I am hoping for Istanbul but apparently some people seem to think that is optimistic!

Also please get in touch via the comments page or email, or by text, as both our phones work abroad.

iPod hell

2006-07-28T10:36:00.000+01:00

I am trying to transfer our entire music collection onto Will's iPod (which is, of course, just past the warranty date) and it is giving me shit. Big time. Why does technology hate me???

If anyone knows why it might stop updating when it gets to the letter "G" i.e. not even halfway through, claiming an unknown error (-36) occurred, I would be most grateful for your help. Although at least I have Gary Numan to listen to now. Also how do you delete stuff once it's on there by mistake? Obviously this is probably elementary but having heard stories of iPod's inept customer services I thought it might be easier to just ask.

And yes, I do know my arse from my elbow, honest.

Nice blogging, Warney

2006-06-14T16:55:00.000+01:00

super sweet words of wisdom from my hero. Had to share, but now am off t'pub, though I promise this will be updated in offensive detail as soon as I stop work (this weekend) hurrah!

Oh, how I love John Carpenter

2006-05-18T12:55:00.000+01:00

And especially since I found this. In particular Episode 2 of Big Trouble in Little South Park, which soothed my hangover no end. It's not been a productive day, but there has been joy! Also I'm very tempted by the idea of purchasing a replica wife-beater, though not sure if I'll mullet up to complete the look.

Also I cannot fathom how it managed to bomb at the box office, it's obviously up there in Carpenter's top three films. And Kurt Russell's, the other two being Escape from New York, and The Thing. Hang on, I feel some kind of film-watching marathon coming on...

Not-so-secret shame

2006-04-26T12:15:00.000+01:00

OK, I realise that no-one will probably want to speak to me any more, but I have to ask:

Does anyone have a copy of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" live version that I could copy? It's on the "Records" album. And I specifically want the live one, not the studio version, if you please.

I have developed a worrying attachment to the song, but am loth to buy a Foreigner album just for one song. And yes I know that they're shit, and most likely no-one would dream of fessing up to owning a copy. Just thought I'd ask...

Another plug

2006-04-20T13:01:00.000+01:00

Anyone who hasn't already chuckled at the thought of my sister running like the wind for chariddee, and been moved to the tune of cold hard cash, please empty your wallets now!

runner bean

Friday's child is a Lovely child

2006-04-19T14:52:00.000+01:00

Publicity for the greatest band ever (in their words) otherwise known as the Lovely Brothers.

Do I get in free now???

Wish fulfilment

2006-03-22T16:20:00.000Z

please please let this be true

Using my own (albeit circumstantial) evidence I believe this fully, as:

1) I believe everything I read

2) I lived near Bethnal Green for three years and NOT ONCE did I see "Pete" despite the fact that apparently that is his home turf. 'Hood, if you will.

3) The KLF have taken over my tiny mind. And I still have archive video footage from them on Top of the Pops performing 3am Eternal.

Squatting

2006-01-20T16:01:00.000Z

As Dan is about to go away with Rachel to a far off land, I thought would provide a visual reminder of his gravitas, dignity, etc. etc.

AC/DC

2006-01-11T14:53:00.000Z

Lord Almighty!

I confess I actually got halfway through this before I realised what was going on. Please Satan, destroy my youth!

Happy New Year

2006-01-04T15:48:00.000Z

A few memories of last year in pictorial form. Apologies to those of you who have not yet been captured by my camera!

US judiciary in seeing sense shocker

2005-12-21T11:33:00.000Z

Christ on a bike indeed

Will someone please let me know what the world is coming to? Next thing you know we'll be having gay marriages!

Copying Ecce

2005-12-13T14:36:00.000Z

It's way too hard to try and think of an ultimate top 10 songs, even if as Ecce shows you can allow yourself several goes - whose rules are these anyway?

But I can tell you what I have been listening to at work recently, in no particular order:

Kate Bush - Experiment IV
Annie - Greatest Hit
Faith No More - Everything's Ruined
The Delgados - I Fought the Angels
Nick Cave - Nature Boy
Teena Marie - Lead Me On
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

Darkness falls

2005-11-23T21:16:00.000Z

Dudes, the Darkness are playing some stadia(!) next February - tell all your friends! Unfortunately the only Saturday dates are in Sheffield or Manchester, but Alexandra Palace is way cool and you can always pull a sickie the next day... Now don't be gay on me, I want detailed excuses why this isn't the best idea ever!

Born(eo) to be wild

2005-11-04T23:28:00.000Z

My good friends Rachel and Dan are off to Borneo in January to work for a charity doing conservation and teaching English for four months. Please have a look at the website and give generously folks. You can even have your logo plastered all over their clothes if you a) have one, and b) sponsor them in a corporate stylee.

http://borneoconservationproject.blogspot.com/