Thursday, December 29, 2005

Principally Boy

One of the things I really enjoyed about Christmas Day, other than the peace and quiet, was watching Working Girl, and not just for late 80s fashion delights such as this magnificent big hair. Ok, so I've always been a sucker for the kitsch end of lighthearted romance, but it later occurred to me that it has something else as well. In common with Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead and I suppose the business deal section towards the end of Just Like A Woman, it has that plot device of someone dressing up as someone else, which is an idea I can't deny I relate to. But it struck me that there's a distinction to be drawn there between gender role and societal role; that is to say that it's the element of doing someone else's job that leads to the appearance of 'being' someone else, and yes there's the disguise of borrowing someone else's clothes, but I'd call that more of a side-effect than anything else. In exactly the same sense that smarter clothes can make one more confident of appearing professional in a job interview situation. I can't imagine it's something that anybody was losing any sleep over, but I'll take my odd moments of insight where I get them! * Footnote: I should add that the item I was searching for has turned up, so normal service of shuffling piles of stuff around the room may shortly be resumed.

Monday, December 26, 2005

So There It Was, Merry Christmas

I had a lovely productive day, largely due to the generous sponsorship of the phrase 'I know I've seen it in the last month, so where the blinking flip have I put it?' So my house is now a good 18 hours cleaner than it was when I last posted, I've had the shelves out, I've dealt with a load of paper to be recycled and it now looks like a far more manageable collection remains, I've filed four months worth of bills and paperwork and I’ve just scanned a load more prints from my slightly better organised collection. Of course this level of activity is unlikely to be sustained, which is why it’s very much a case of needing to strike while the iron’s hot, and while I have a little time on my hands. And on that activity note, I’m pleasantly surprised by the number of additional visitors here due to a tiny remark someone made elsewhere. It’s good to know I have that many friends – thanks, and enjoy the rest of the festivities.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Aha, Now I Know; Tis The Season To Be Careful

My other plans for this evening have been slightly disrupted by getting hit by a car on the way home. I'm absolutely fine, and the bike's fine, but it means I'm less in the mood for investigating the joy of my newly arrived seasonal e-shopping, but that's ok, it'll wait. Here's that picture of the back of my bike again. The lower pair of lights flash, and combined with those, three huge reflectors on my rucksack and the reflective strips on my ankles and shoes, I'm virtually unmissable. Or at least I should be. Certainly someone approaching me from the rear should be aware enough of my presence to not turn left straight across me, hitting my front wheel and bringing me to a juddering halt. Which is why 'I didn't see you' was the final thing that means I'm sat here knowing I've done the right thing rather than wondering whether I should be talking to the police or not. After no dealings with the constabulary in years, two in a week leaves me wondering about the business of things coming in threes, and casting it out for damned nonsense! In other news I appear to have gained my own anti-fan club of one out there in cyberspace, which makes me laugh a lot. I'm big enough to rise above whatever comes from someone that's found some sort of missionary zeal for criticising me in an abusive manner, and it'll be interesting to see how this develops. I have a pretty good idea where the problem comes from, and I know exactly who the problem is, but there are always sanctions that can be brought to bear and I fear nobody. Have a good christmas period, and take it easy - it can be dangerous out there!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Eventful Times - Part Three, Static (Without) Electricity

I mentioned the car's electrical problems – somewhere there was a fault that kept draining the battery. After a couple of hundred miles last sunday, the battery was as flat as a steamrollered pancake come tuesday. Which is how the battery happened to be in the house being charged on wednesday night when the car was broken into. With a fully charged battery returned to the car on thursday and the run to London, it came as some surprise when I got back to the car on saturday morning to find a completely flat battery. And nobody in sight in all of western London. Half an hour later, I finally had a car come by and some very helpful chaps stop, so via the magic of jump leads, I hit the road. I was already planning to visit my friendly mechanic in order to get him to look at the electrics again – we replaced the alternator a while back and that didn’t fix the battery drain. By a process of elimination, we established that the radio was the cause of the drain and I went off to the match enjoying the mighty irony that had the muppets been successful in their attempt to steal the radio on wednesday night, I would not have had the battery problem that morning. Although I could easily have slept through the first hour, the final thirty minutes of the game was great fun with a very, very late winning goal. Collected the car with an understanding of how to work around the radio problem now it’s clear exactly what the problem is, and feeling satisfied with life and looking forward to getting home, I left. An hour later I was stopped in an isolated layby on a country road in deepest Wiltshire, with an immobile car. By the time I stopped, the headlights had dimmed considerably and I’d taken the pragmatic decision to press on slowly rather than be stopped with the imminent prospect of no lights at all in the middle of an unlit yet rather major 60mph road. This is where knowing the route helps immensely! Going through my stuff by feel to locate my headtorch, once under the bonnet it didn’t take long to work out what had happened; while playing with the electrics, someone that isn’t me had failed to re-make a connection. Where the alternator had previously been charging the battery, since leaving I’d just been running the battery down, with the inevitable consequences described. However, by that point the battery was so flat that even had I fixed the connection, the car still would not have started. A couple of phone calls told me that it was set for –5 that night, but the stars were lovely in a very clear sky and the hours it took for the aforementioned mechanic to come and find me, fix the connection properly and give me a jump start was productively spent listening to my pocket radio and giggling at my predicament. I trust your own seasonal travels will be less troubled, but do feel free to have a good chuckle at my expense – you really couldn’t make it up, but no harm done, and all’s well that ends.

Eventful Times - Part Two, Winter Wonderland

Had an enjoyable couple of days in London, and saw one of my favourite bands do a very good show that for me marks the point where the current line-up has clearly crossed the boundary between a bunch of people on the same stage to looking like a cohesive unit that works together as one. You may not have heard of Amsterdam, but if you like literate pop music with a bit of a swagger, vibrancy and energy then I’ll be happy to point you in the right direction. In a more seasonal mood I found myself taking the ice at Alexandra Palace; there was a time in my life when I was skating at least once a week, and I know that several new years arrived while I was on ice. I haven’t skated regularly for many years, but it was mildly reassuring to find that even on ropey hire skates I hadn’t completely lost the knack. Had more than my share of near tumbles, but I learnt to keep my balance on skates a whopping twenty-something years ago and though I may indeed have wobbled, I didn’t go down. Had a lovely time, though it's very unfortunate to say the least that someone turns out to have got a broken bone out of the experience, and the various delights of visiting that grand building and the great skyline views from the top of that hill were a bonus I hadn’t been counting on. As befits the party season, I manufactured the opportunity to demonstrate my improved shopping skills with a suitably party type outfit and got a bit of assistance and sensible advice regarding my adventures in artificial hair. And for what’s changed on that whole front in terms of a move from a thoroughly hidden subject to something that’s now a lot more like just one of many things I talk about with some of my friends, I’m pleased to say there’s been a lot of progress. And I appreciate the parts others have played in that. So that and a number of emptied glasses pretty much accounts for my trip to London itself, though I should have known better than to think that meant the excitement was over...

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Sunday, December 18, 2005

Eventful Times - Part One, Crime And Punishment

It's been an interesting couple of days, which I'm trying to keep down into bitesize chunks.

On wednesday night my car was broken into. They went through it, failed to remove the radio due to incompetence and made away with just under a fiver in cash and a torch that wasn't that great. No major harm done, or irreplaceable items stolen, but the potential psychological effects take a bit longer to weigh up. I've never felt vulnerable in my own home, I don't subscribe to tabloid hysteria about a social climate of fear and hatred, and I generally trust the better nature of people until individuals prove otherwise, but all the same, something like this makes me stop and think for a moment or two.

It's a fifteen year old car, though admittedly with a mildly attractive looking radio because the current one was replaced by insurers after the original one was thieved under the previous ownership. That's why it also has an immobiliser now. And there was no danger of the car itself getting removed, as the battery was indoors being charged, due to ongoing electrical problems which I've mentioned before and will come back to very shortly.

There wasn't time to find out exactly which police station I needed to visit to report the car break-in, but I spoke to neighbours who were in so they knew to make sure they lock their own cars properly, and dropped a note in at my local police station which is not attended much of the time.so they knew I had something to report. I'd mostly rather someone keep an eye out for nipping minor crime in the bud before it escalates than the sort of eye for an eye retribution that is one of the alternative reactions possible in the circumstances.

All the same, I could really have done without being distracted on the motorway with wondering whether I hadn't locked a door (no, you can see what they did with a screwdriver to force the lock) and whether I'm now going to need to park somewhere else, or change my car usage habits in some way. In any case, it's only a car and I'm sure I can tell the difference between taking sensible precautions and developing a persecution complex where none need exist.


Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Tis The Season To Be..?

I'm trying to keep my end of year summary navel-gazing to a minimum - I've done plenty already this year. But the timing is right right now, and while I will probably be exchanging greetings cards with my near neighbours, that may be as far as my joining in with seasonal festivities goes. As for the events of the past year, there's a couple of things I'd undo given the choice, and a couple of bridges I'd like to attempt to rebuild in some small way, given the chance. But dialogue takes two, and there comes a time to start wondering whether I'm making a nuisance of myself rather than actually achieving anything. That said, in the next couple of days I'll be away and though I won't get to see as many of the people who've been part of this year as I would like, I will be pleased to see anyone who is around. I've had some significant times that might not have happened but for the assistance of certain people, and I appreciate the efforts made on my behalf at various times. And whether I see you or not, I'd just like to wish you the very best of the season, and I hope you get to enjoy whatever you spend it doing.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Step Back In Time

There are very few bands still going from when I first started buying records and going to see live music, and this is an example of one that's had a few line up changes over the years, but last night saw me revisiting my youth in a remarkably noticeable way. Doing albums in their entirety seems to be an ongoing theme - this was the third such show I've seen this year, but the only one where the album in question is one I know especially well. In fact I'd probably put Magnum's On A Storyteller's Night in my top ten of albums most listened to, and it definitely says something when an album first released in 1985 is held up as someone's career highlight. It's more a coincidence of timing than a special relevance of the material that it all takes me back to the first time I saw them, and a point in my life that now looks like a significant departure into something. The performance is pretty much what you'd expect if you know the band to any degree, and to a certain extent it's incidental - we're none of us any younger and as a reminder of where I've come from it's hard to beat. < there used to be a picture of Bob Catley and a young Chesney Hawkes lookalike here, and now there isn't >

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Thursday, December 08, 2005

Shopping Days To Go (* Edited)

It's been a long time since I visited a dentist and paid with cash - the state of my teeth is a saga in its own right - but yesterday I had my first visit to my relatively newly opened friendly local neighbourhood NHS dentist. Great service, I'm impressed. Given I have holiday to use up, I took the whole day off, and fitted a small lie-in and trips to a couple of local shops and a big out of town retail park around the dentistry. I had a couple of things in mind, notably the sparkly plum coloured top that called out to me from the rack when I saw it a couple of weeks ago, but other than that and the shoes, I either failed to be hugely inspired or succeeded in limiting my spending depending on your point of view. I'm really pleased with how well the top goes with the lighter coloured skirt I got in the summer, and after an hour in the shoes I was happier with them too. Leaving aside a momentary flash of potential personal difficulty - I expect nothing to come of it, but you never know - it was a pretty good day. I tried to find somewhere with a bit more light so I could get some slightly more colour realistic shots. Above - the new top with visible sparkliness, and the skirt for good measure, and below - new shoes.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Step By Step Into Christmas

I can live without decorations and all that business, mostly because I'm unspeakably bored with the ubiquitous commercialised tat by about the end of September. But over the last few days I've been sorting out my plans, and booked my remaining holiday off work to find I have a mere eight working days left till next year. Which suddenly focuses the mind a little, as I have a couple of urgent pieces of work to complete, and what feels like not much time to do them in. Nobody's fault but mine, and I'm sure it'll all work out. By way of other progress related to my last post, I can offer my gradually growing understanding of html so now there's a direct link to my flickr pictures. And I had a bright idea moment realising something else productive I could do with myself when I'm in London next week. All the same, it definitely feels like I'm starting to hit that winding down end of the year phase. I can see why some species sleep the whole winter through!

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Rationalisation

Time for a bit of housekeeping - my set of pictures from last week's commute in the snow has probably tipped the balance and now with a couple of flickr accounts, blogs and a host of yahoo photos floating around, it's a very good time to try and bring it all a bit closer together. At the same time, getting involved in a rather heated exchange of views yesterday reminds me that just because things are pretty settled in my own life, that's no reason to lay everything wide open. So, I think I can get rid of one flickr account and consolidate some of my yahoo photos into the remaining flickr account while keeping up the more personal commentary here, and the identifying pictures of me elsewhere. Some cross-over is inevitable, and I know I could make it really simple by putting everything in the one place, but yesterday's events are a nice pointer that my policy of keeping the identifying details hidden while sharing the more personal information does give me the degree of anonymity that keeps me comfortable with discussing things freely, and I'm not prepared to give that up lightly. That said, I appreciate you stopping by, and I'd be happy to expand on anything you see here.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Hat's The Way To Do It!

There's my hat below. But more importantly, I'm pleased to announce that my new favourite thing is the kirby grip - it would appear that a handful of those can do more magic than I considered possible, but that by no means suggests that I've finished with this subject. And I'm grateful for the input, feedback and thoughts. Thanks!
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