armcurl

I've moved

2006-04-25T09:46:00.000Z

Blogger pissed me off yesterday. A bug in their system meant I was unable to update anything on my site for over 24hrs. Further, there was no report of the bug on their site - just a whole lot of bloggers going mental in the forums. So - I've moved. I might come back if Wordpress prove themselves to be even worse, but until that happens - find me here.

Sunday Soundtrack

2006-04-23T14:54:00.001Z

It's raining today, so I sat in and did family tree 'stuff' on the computer. I have discovered that my GGG Grandparents moved from North Yorkshire to Longhirst in Northumberland sometime between 1851 and 1861, and had moved to Blandford Street in Newcastle by 1871. By this time, my GG Grandmother was living on Forth Street, Newcastle - a street which was also home to The Robert Stephenson Company. Back in Yorkshire, I also discovered the name of my Great Great Great Great Great Great (count 'em - there's six!) Grandfather. It was Thomas.

Soundtrack for the afternoon was Ray Lamontagne's cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, and the new one from Primal Scream - country girl. The video for Country Girl is a cracker, don't expect to see the full thing on Top Of The Pops anytime soon...

Training, Deer.

2006-04-22T21:27:00.000Z

Training continued apace today with a round trip to Richmond Park (and a few laps of the park) - about 28-30 miles. Weather was great and sunny and all in all a nice day out in the sun, despite slight hangover from last night's soiree in the Old Red Lion. I was a little fazed by the sheer number of deer in the park though! As I entered the park I remembered something about there being deer in there and thought to myself 'best keep your eyes peeled, if you're lucky you might see a deer or two', and was certainly not expecting the sight that greeted me a few minutes later - hundreds of the buggers sitting a few feet from the roadside! Most impressive. I do like Richmond. Had a snooze in the sun when I got home; all refreshed in time for Dr. Who. :)

Sponsor Me!

2006-04-18T09:44:00.000Z

For those of you that don't know, I thought you might be interested to learn that I am taking part in the 2006 London-Brighton cycle ride for the British Heart Foundation, (NOT the World Naked Bike Ride, as some rumours have suggested!) and I'm looking for sponsors. I have a page here where you can sponsor me. If you think you might know others who would sponsor me, please feel free to forward this post to them using the little envelope icon below.

...and relax.

2006-04-13T21:03:00.000Z

Yesterday evening was a lot of fun. A large group (30) of us from work were treated to a tour of the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel. Apparently the hotel has a theme each month, and this month was 'chocolate month', so after being plied with as much red wine, liquers, and fine chocolate as we could eat - we were shown around the hotel, its ballroom, its gym, its very nice restaurant and bar, its rather expensive 'standard' rooms, and its even more expensive (£450+) 'superior' rooms - which were bigger than some of our flats! The highpoint of the evening (several glasses in by this point) was the spa. We were shown the special group therapy rooms and told (cue infantile sniggering amongst the lads) that this is where the 'husband/wife, mother/daughter, brother/sister, sister/sister' activity takes place. There was much falling about at the back when we were shown the special instrument they have that drips oil "onto your third eye", and lots of larking about on the electrically adjustable relaxation beds, before we were each given a private shoulder and head massage. It's been a long, long time since I was given a massage that lasted longer than two minutes and didn't end with a perky "my turn now!", so I loved every minute of it - utterly blissed out (and I'm very sure the wine was helping). After a few more glasses of wine and cheeky smuggling of alcohol to the masseuse(s), we adjourned to the Old Crown on New Oxford Street where, and I'm not entirely sure I didn't imagine this, a loudspeaker in the toilets tried to teach me Spanish. A fun, fun night. I'm sure I'll remember the rest in the fullness of time...

4 wheels bad, 2 wheels good

2006-04-12T13:26:00.000Z

Finally, after what seems like aeons trawling eBay looking for a bike on which I can train and participate in the London - Brighton road race later this year, I have got me a new bike. From gumtree. I had been in a bit of a dilemma over whether or not I actually needed a new bike, I mean - I've kind of got a perfectly decent hybrid-commuter already, but I'm delighted with the new Specialized Allez, and just know I made the right decision now. I can lift the thing with two fingers, and when I put my foot down I go like the wind. With my other bike I kind of gradually sped up, getting to a decent speed just in time to brake at the next set of lights. I've still got a little over two months in which to train properly, but my mate John reckons I should shave half an hour off my time on the new bike - I hope he's right.

The Chatham Singers

2006-04-08T12:11:00.000Z

Went to see The Chatham Singers last night at Spitz, part of their Festival Of Blues. Somehow or another we managed to get ourselves positioned to the side of the stage, which afforded a great view of the band and the back of Billy Childish's head... Had a really good night again, regardless. Billy read most of the lyrics from sheets at his feet (that he'd transcribed while listening to the records), and his wife seemingly played on stage for the first time - she was nervy and didn't appear to know many of the songs, taking her cue from Billy for what to say, and when. One track toward the end of the night descended into 'La La La', when everyone forgot the words - but at least the audience got to join in on that one! There's a video I made of The Chatham Singers doing 'Hollis Brown' here. Support from The Surgens was ok, they had one guy who played nothing but an interesting array of gimmicky instruments (loud hailer, saw, washboard); but I preferred the first support - some guy from Egypt called Peter (allegedly).

Indie Lives!

2006-04-07T15:41:00.000Z

I've been quite antisocial at work this week, since I discovered indie 103.1 fm, and have been wearing my headphones more than usual... It's an L.A. based radio station and this week they've had guest DJ slots from Shepard Fairey and Henry Rollins (whos weekly show is archived on his blog). All very good so far. 103's site itself has loads of good links, podcasts, mashups and videos . Only downside is the lack of properly tagged tracks means that my last.fm profile has fallen behind and isn't reflecting what I'm listening to all that accurately... Anyway, just thought I'd share it wit' y'all.

Kickers

2006-04-06T13:25:00.000Z

Yay! My new boots arrived in the post from the States today - I bought them with my birthday money, and they have been designated my new 'scooter boots', coming, as they do, with steel toecaps and all. Handy for kicking anyone who cuts me up too... Unfortunately, they did cost me a little more than I'd intended thanks to HM Customs and Excise charging me an extra £13 VAT and a parcelforce 'clearance fee' of £14. Actually, now I think about it - how do a pair of $84 (£47) boots attract VAT of £12.90?? - They'll get their first outing later today, when I ride out to Tulse Hill with Jez to pick up his new scoot...

The loss of L4069

2006-04-03T09:39:00.000Z

Further infomation has come to light about the premature demise of my Great Uncle John which may be of interest to family members (or genealogists) who read my blog:

The loss of L4069 of 83 Squadron on 14/15 May 1940 came about in most mysterious circumstances. The aircraft had taken off from Scampton at 2229 hours and was back over Lincolnshire at 0210, less than four hours later, so it appears to have been returning with some sort of problem, possibly engine trouble. "At 0210 L4069 was challenged by an anti-aircraft battery. The correct answer was given [a single letter in morse] after which the aircraft suddenly changed course, made a sharp circle, gained speed and dived into the ground and blew up near Louth, Lincs." The crew of L4069 were all killed.

- from "The Hampden Files" [The crew included FO N Johnson; PO E.A. Vagg; AC1 S.G. Pickard; and Sgt D Wolstenholme.] The Hampden certainly seems to have earned its nickname of 'The Flying Coffin' - with a large percentage of sorties coming to their untimely end even once they had reached the supposed safety of the British mainland. It was notoriously difficult to control on only one engine, and had a habit of banking sharply to one side - a deadly trait that became known as 'The Hampden Yaw'.

One Small Step

2006-04-01T23:25:00.000Z

Went to the opening night of the new Adam Neate show at One Small Step in EC1 tonight. Adam was there (in the window) creating many of his signature pieces to the time of a large 'inspiration clock' which hung on the wall before him. The clock (priced at an entirely reasonable £2000) contained four smaller timepieces each of which provided the artist with inspiration. For example, one of the clocks - depending on the position of the hands - indicated whether or not Adam should paint a man, a monster (nice or nasty), a woman, or an object; another clock dictated whether or not the 'thing' in question should be happy, sad, angry, etc., and another what colour it should be. So we had a happy orange car, or a sad blue man... The fourth clock dictated the medium to be used (hands, aerosol, ink, paint...). Utterly inspired, and I'm not taking the piss when I say I thought the price for the clock was 'reasonable'; unfortunately I just don't have that kind of money... On the walls of the gallery hung smaller pieces, untitled pen drawings (£150) and his 'dark heart' series (£500-800) which I really liked (especially the bus, if any one influential is reading..). I made a small video of Adam at work and, if I've managed to get yourtube to work properly, you should be able to view that here. Thanks for the free beers.

My Life In Music

2006-04-01T15:52:00.000Z

(via Very True Things)

These are the instructions:

Put your iTunes/Winamp/WMP on shuffle.
Say the following questions aloud, and press play.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.
NO CHEATING unless the songs you get don’t make any damned sense.

How does the world see me? Squeeze Her, Tease her - The Animals
Will I have a happy life? Sunday Morning - James
What do my friends really think of me? Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths
Do people secretly lust after me? Apple Of My Eye - The Upholsterers
How can I make myself happy? For You - Big Star
What should I do with my life? Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash
Will I ever have children? Higher Than The Sun - Primal Scream
What is some good advice for me? California Uber Alles - Dead Kenedys
How will I be remembered? Failure - The Las
What is my signature dancing song? The Daily Planet - Love
What do I think my current theme song is? My World's Ending - Talulah Gosh
What does everyone else think my current theme song is? Rudolph The Red Nosed Raindeer - The Crystals
What song will play at my funeral? Starman - David Bowie
What type of women do I like? The Hardest Walk - Jesus And Mary Chain
What is my day going to be like? Sometimes - My Bloody Valentine
Will I ever have love again? Dirty Dave - The Outlaws
What type of sex life do I have? Lucky 'n' Unhappy - Air
What song would be the title of my own porno movie? Donna The Prima Donna - Dion

I'm sure what doesn't make sense to me makes an awful lot of sense to somebody else, so I haven't cheated at all. Either I may as well end it all now, or I've got a very depressing music collection...

Peter and the Wolf

2006-03-30T21:25:00.000Z

Got free tickets to go and see Peter and the Wolf tonight at the Hackney Empire. I didn't really know what to expect and thought it would be a bit 'for the kids', so was surprised when I found that I actually really enjoyed it. I didn't really know the story (such that is is), but it seems they've appended an extra half-hour segment on the beginning (prepended, I guess). The movements of the dancers were just incredible, and left me feeling like a bit of a cripple in comparison; their fluid movements really showed up just what is possible when you're truly fit. ~~I must confess that the dancer that played Zoe/Bird caught my eye a little and went some way to making the whole thing more enjoyable~~ (Note to self: wives have Internet access too) - the free Press Bar in the interval was a nice feature too... I'd also never been to The Empire before, which is practically criminal seeing as it's right on my doorstep, but it really is a beautiful intimate building, wonderfully restored (and with a really nice bar next door). I'll be keeping a close eye on its schedules, as I'd like to visit more often.

Gay Bombers

2006-03-29T18:52:00.000Z

For one reason or another I was Googling 'Enola Gay' this evening, except I couldn't remember the full name so I typed 'gay bomber' into Google. The first hit was this fantastic article about a "Gay Bomb" that was almost put into production by the American Military. There was also a bomb that would give soldiers 'bad breath' and a 'who me?' bomb that made the enemy fart. I'm unable to shake the assumption that they've been conducting secret tests of the last two on public transport for years...

More Bad Sellers

2006-03-28T11:19:00.000Z

I had to make two more Paypal complaints today. What is it with these bad sellers (see Michael Motorcycle below) ? This time around it was two Great North Run t-shirts that I bought on eBay almost three weeks ago. I ran in the actual races (1982, 1983) but lost my t-shirts somewhere along the way, and was quite pleased to be given the opportunity to replace them. Unfortunately the sellers (who I suspect are the same person) seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth now that they've been paid and aren't responding to emails. I strongly recommend you don't buy from calebs_club or calebs_club_american_bulldogs_rescue_rehoming. Thieving Barstewards.

Of Lost Uncles...

2006-03-27T20:09:00.000Z

I made a small breakthough in my family tree research today. Quite by chance, I stumbled upon the War Graves Commission site and decided to do a quick search on my surname. Almost immediately I found the details of a man who was buried in Gateshead East cemetary and had the same parents as my Grandfather - a missing Great Uncle! It appears that he was a gunner in 83 Squadron and his Hampden Bomber crashed over Lincolnshire while returning from a mission over the Ruhr area in Germany. It transpired that 15th May 1940 (the date of his death) was quite a significant date. The day before, the Germans had carpet bombed Rotterdam - the first time that civilians had been directly targetted; the British response was swift and marked the onset of the Battle Of Britain. Not quite as exciting careerwise was my Great Great Uncle James - a bricklayer. I think I've managed to track him down on the 1881 census - lodging in Birmingham (head of the house: a single woman of similar age...). Unfortunately I can't find any trace of him in 1891; so unless a fellow genealogist comes out of the woodwork on one of the many forums I inhabit, that may well be the end of his story too.

(Take a leaflet and) Stop The War!

2006-03-19T17:47:00.000Z

Went on the Anti War march around London yesterday, there were thousands upon thousands of people and I was very surprised not to see at least one of the sunday papers with a photo or two on the cover. It really has come to something when such a large protest can take place in central London, shutting off many major roads for most of the day, against government policy and nary a mention in the media. Anyway, those gripes aside, it was a good day. The sun came out and I took quite a few pictures. I have more on film - but I'll have to wait until I get my film back from the printers. Took me right back to the heady days of anti Community Charge marches; only difference being that those marches generally ended in a right royal knees-up... I didn't hang around to listen to the speeches, the PA wasn't up to much and I kept getting bothered by various rentacause Socialist Worker parasites, desperate to self-publicize and foist their latest (non-recycled) pamphlet/book/DVD on me. I asked one person who persisted ("take a leaflet and stop the war!") if her pamphlet was on recycled paper - she ignored me, so I asked again. She stopped mid-invective and said 'of course they are'. She was clearly lying. A small thing, perhaps, but how can these people then continue ranting about how the government is lying to us all? Seems to me the government have more to gain by lying - what was her excuse? You're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem. Those people are part of the problem, only they'd like to take the credit for being [part of] the solution. Can't stand them. [...and relax.] The stopthewar table had some very nice t-shirts though, must be said (not available on their website).

Vespa Death #2

2006-03-17T11:14:00.000Z

Another 'not good' day so far. The garage that was looking at my Vespa has just rang me up and told me it's ready to collect. The cost will be £380! Bearing in mind the whole (2yr. old) scooter cost me £1100 a year ago, this is quite a blow. Apparently the stator plate I referred to below (and was told would cost 'around £80') cost £124, they also quoted things like 'new spark plug', 'new headlamp bulb', and 'the rear wheel was loose'. I'll be interested to see the breakdown and find out how much it cost to tighten the rear wheel - a three minute job... Update: ok, got the details. Calculators at the ready:

stator plate
spark plug
gear box oil
disc pads
headlamp bulb
H.T. Lead
spark plug cap
cleaner/lube/grease

Parts = £159.45

"To carry out full service inc. changing the above parts inc. stator plate, clean out front brake, strip down and clean out front caliper, carb. and air filter"

Labour = £220.30 Making a grand total of £379.75!! If there's any scooterists/mechanics/enthusiasts reading this I'd be very interested to hear your opinions...

2006-03-15T18:43:00.000Z

Before Jack White whinged to eBay: After Jack White whinged to eBay: Read all about it here. I also discovered the Marvelous Crooning Child today and got excited when I discovered that there's a film about Bettie Page being released next month (thanks to the reverse cowgirl). Here's a Bettie video to get you in the mood.

Vespa Death

2006-03-15T16:12:00.000Z

Bit of a rubbish morning today... I got most of the way to work when my PX suddenly died at some traffic lights. No probs, says I, the engine must just still be a little cold, and tries to restart it. No joy. No electrics either. So I push it to a quieter City street and spend the next twenty minutes trying to kick start it and running up and down the street like an idiot trying to bump start it. Still no joy. A passing street cleaner tells me 'it's the spark plug' - but he doesn't have a spark plug spanner on him, so I decide he's an idiot. Eventually, I gave up and decided to push it the half hour to Scooter Emporium near Brick Lane - 'luckily' they can take it in (apologies to my usual garage - Scootabout - but this one was much closer at the time). Update: Scooter Emporium have just rang and told me that they've tried everything they can to get a spark, but have come up with nothing. They're 99% sure it's the 'stator plate' which needs replacing (odd, given that the bike is only two years old), and it will cost me £80. Surprisingly, they don't have a spare stator plate with which to test their theory and they need to order in the part, so I'll have to leave it with them for a few days. A quick query on askanowner.com reveals that

It's hard to kill a stator unless it was defective or modifications were made to the electrical system of your scoot. #1

and

It is unlikely it is the whole stator plate. There are a series of magnets for generating the electricity for the lights and the ignition. It is probably the ignition one that has gone. These are around 15 -20 pounds and a half hour to 1 hour to replace. #2

I hadn't made any modifications to the bike, and it has been running fine for the last two years, since new (so it's unlikely to be defective). I guess I'll just have to sit back and see what happens next...

The Thin Blue Blog

2006-03-13T16:21:00.000Z

I read an interesting article on Police Blogging this lunchtime. A few of my family are/were in the force, and others work very closely with them, so I pricked up my ears a little... The article mentioned a few bloggers by name, so I went digging and was amazed at how many blogs I found in such a short space of time, it seems to be the latest craze! - quite interesting reading too, some of them. Anyway, here's some of the repeat offenders. Remember, any comments you make may be taken down... http://worldwearydetective.blogspot.com/ http://specialcopper.blogspot.com/ http://www.04gh.com/ http://rolferoo.blogspot.com/ http://nonmice.blogspot.com/ http://yornicked.blogspot.com/ http://bowstreetrunner.blogspot.com/ http://coppersblog.blogspot.com/ http://policecontrol.blogspot.com/

Bad men with moustaches.

2006-03-13T13:57:00.000Z

Regrettably, I had to file a Paypal complaint against Michael Michael Motorcycle this morning. A month after I paid for a t-shirt from his site, and three emails asking about shipping dates later - nothing, nada, zip. This is very disappointing as I had my eye on that shirt for quite some time and finally decided to treat myself for my birthday last month. Note to self: do not trust men with moustaches. On a more positive note: I did win a couple of Great North Run shirts at knock-down prices on eBay over the weekend. They're replacements for the ones I won myself back in 1982 and 1983. I lost mine many moons ago along with all the other treasures I'd safely stored in the near-legendary red suitcase that I kept at my mum's house (my mum moved house, the red suitcase didn't). I'm hoping these replacements don't stink too much (at all) of someone else's sweat...

eBay

2006-03-09T15:54:00.000Z

Another copy of the excellent Magda Danyz book up on eBay last night. Some great pics of Miss Van, Dalek, Ray Caesar, and Mark Ryden works. Buy it - you know you want to.

Gig Tickets

2006-03-05T20:32:00.000Z

I spent some time this afternoon photographing and uploading my collection of gig tickets to Flickr. Most of them are from my undergraduate University years; there's a story behind every one, I'm just not sure I remember what they are... Take a look - comments welcomed!

Sinatra!

2006-03-04T19:13:00.000Z

Yawn... yesterday was a lot of fun. Straight after work, about twenty of us were treated (courtesy of SeeTickets) to champagne and a delicious two-course meal at The Cavendish Hotel on Jermyn Street, followed by a preview viewing of Sinatra! at the London Palladium. Our seats were a little spread out, with some of us in the gods, and some of us in the stalls, but me and three others somehow managed to get seats just four rows from the stage. The video effects really have to be seen, and I loved the way all the Sinatra footage had him looking directly ahead, so that like those weird portraits whose eyes follow you around the room, Frank appeared to be looking right into the eyes of each and every member of the audience. I'm a bit of a fan of Old Blue Eyes' music and enjoyed the show immensely, with the possible exception of a long drawn out bit where Bono appears from the heavens, 20ft high, and waffles on, tripping over his words, about how great Sinatra is. I mean, WTF is Bono doing in there ? Granted, most of Sinatra's contemporaries bit the dust a good while ago, but there must be someone out there who knew the man and is better placed than Bono to eulogise him... After the show most of us went to The Shaston Arms for a few, before being chased out by the muscly landlady and moving on toward Soho looking for late night beers. We stood in stunned amazement outside O'Neill's on Wardour Street for a while after hearing they wanted £8 each to get in (12 of us) !!, before moving on to Cafe Boheme on Old Compton Street (£2.50 each) and supped Hoegaardens until gone 3am. Courtesy of the number 38, I was home by 4 - sorted.