OriginalMaJaTo

December again!

2011-12-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is December again!

The year really has flown by - the past 11 months have been chaotic, and things aren't likely to ease up any time soon. In fact I'd say the last few years have been hectic.

Hence my blogging has been even more infrequent than usual. So, I figured I'd write up the years' events now while I get the chance.

Good Stuff

46 mile charity walk in April - absolutely knackering but as a group we raised over £11,000 for charity
Property stuff (porch extension, solar panels added, interior doors to be replaced - all good stuff but expensive too!)
Spent a long weekend in Euro-Disney -arriving in time for all the Christmas decorations (just like last year)
the launch of my new website, www.norfolkplaces.com - about all the great things to see and do in Norfolk. the site is still in its infancy but please visit and come back regularly!
Luke getting the role of a king in the school play (he really wants to be an actor so this migt encourage him)
Managing to cut Cola out of my diet

Bad Stuff

Got a rejection for a really good story - most disappointing thing was the agents (won't name and shame them) claimed it would only take a 2-4 weeks to come back - in the end I had to chase them several times and it took them abut 8months to eventually respond
The disappearance of an animator who wanted me to write scripts for an animation series. After writing the first episode and some outlines for several more all communication ceased - I can only assume he's emigrated to Panama or has passed on to the afterworld! This was a shame because I've always fancied myself as a scriptwriter
Our car is in frequent need of repair, which ahs probably cost more than the value of the bloody thing this year
Work, work, work!
Idiots rioting in the UK
People living in cloud-cuckoo-land going on strike in the UK

Hopes for the New Year

A successful year for www.norfolkplaces.com
A decent pay increase! (Unlikely seeing as this has been non-existent for the last 4 years...)
A bonus (see above!)
Some training budget being made avaialble so I can improve my core skills
Hopes for democracy, fredom of speech and enlightenment in the Arab world
Recovery of the world economy (especially the UK!)
Hope that Luke might finally give in to my nagging and join a football or tennis club!
Hope Ben enjoys starting school!

As usual I'll probably think of more to add to this list and will update when I get a moment. Unforutnately I now have to go and do some domestic chores.

What goes on in the minds of little boys....

2011-09-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

...when one of them suddenly decides to say "ah, chippy chippy chippy!" (in an imitating snoring way) the other finds it hilarious, copies it and returns the sound louder, which makes the other start laughing hysterically, and it all spirals on and on and on for several minutes?

I don't know and I don't think they do either. Sometimes it's funny, well, at first. But not when it escalates....grrhh!

One hypothesis is that perhaps it's the little ones love of chips (as in the ones that go nicely with fish, especially with lashings of salt, vinegar and tomato sauce). Afterall, I think he dreams of dipping chips in ketchup.

Anyway, I'm tired so...[fake yawn]....ah, chippy, chippy, chippy....

Brian Wilson

2011-09-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

I went to see Brian Wilson at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 17th September and it was a brilliant gig.

I saw Brian and his band a few years ago when they toured Smile, which was out of this world, and his "reimagines Gershwin" material is great too.
A good hour and half of Beach Boys/Brian Wilson material really was the icing on the cake for everyone there - the place really was rocking!

Here's a few videos of some of the songs from that night. Enjoy!

It's been a while...

2011-08-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Too long, I know, and I'm sorry.

I'll try to be a better blogger, but I've so much going on in life that it's hard to get time to blog.

I guess I should update y'all on how the charity walk went at the end of April. Well, it was great fun, albeit pretty knackering!

I was supposed to camp at the end of the first day. However, I put my stuff in the back of someone's car in the morning, but he had to go to hospital with heat-stroke and dehydration. So, I had to go home to rest - which was probably a good thing because I got all my blisters treated (i.e popped), had a hot bath and was ready to go again!
We're still waiting on final totals but I've heard on the grapevine that we've raised over £10,000 ($16,000) to share between East Anglian Children's Hospices and the Neo-Natal unit at the Norfolk&Norwich Hospital. Not bad, eh?

Too hot to type

2011-06-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

It is so darn hot I think the keyboard will melt soon.....

Hairless Guinea Pig!

2011-06-21T14:09:00.001-07:00

A friend made me aware of this earlier. Just so happens to one of the cutest things EVER!

http://cuteoverload.com/2011/06/18/guinea-peeg-looks-like-an-adorabuhl-mini-hippo/

If you're interested.....

2011-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

I posted some new material on MaJaTo Scribes. Okay, one old, one new.

Tunes

2011-05-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of classic Throwing Muses videos

Sore feet - blister-popping-tastic!

2011-05-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

After walking a tremendous distance across the weekend my feet are now covered in blisters. They built up gradually over the 2 days, but all of them developed on the first day while wearing "1000mile socks" -which are guaranteed to stop blisters developing. So, I think I can say with reasonable assurance that "1000mile socks"don't work!

However, the pain was well worth it and I am so proud of everyone who took part, especially my friends Simon and Claire who organised the walk in memory of the little boy, Harrison.

Kids say the darnedest things

2011-04-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

The setting: McDonalds

Me: What meat is in your chicken nuggets?

Ben: Huh?

Me: Are you eating chicken?

Ben: (laughs) No! We don't eat animals. We eat food!

Of course, it could've been a comment about the meat content (or lack of) in Mcdonalds.....

Pop Post Chart

2011-04-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Just been looking at my blog stats, and since I started in 2007 the most popular posts have been:-

Things to know about Norwich (22/09/2009)
Thomas and his Friends Day & Bressingham Steam Museum (20/08/2007)
I'm reliably informed (09/09/2010)
Triple-decker bus! (30/05/2009)

I obvioulsy haven't written anything of great interest this year because no article has made the top ten yet.

Why Charities are important

2011-04-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Charity - defined as the practice of benevolent giving and caring

The British nation has always been big on charity. For a nation of high taxes, in the main most people still give to charity on a regular basis.

In 2007/8 charity donations peaked at £11.3 billion from the British public. Although it came down a bit in 2008/9 (still £10.6 billion) the figure for 2010 is expected to be close to the peak, and in 2011 it will probably be even higher.

I'm experiencing the generosity of my fellow citizens right now as I raise funds via a sponsored walk.

Of course, not everyone has been able to donate, but they have wished me well with the event and their good wishes are invaluable too. Indeed there are many valid reasons why people can't donate, such as:-

Can't afford to - times are difficult and everyone's disposable income varies
Recently donated to something else (as I said, we're a charitable bunch so there will always be someone you know fundraising)
Against their beliefs/principles - your charity choice may not be everyone's cup of tea (e.g. not sure I'd donate if someone wanted to raise funds to build a statue of Gordon Brown!)

Yep, okay there might be the odd one who won't offer a reason, snapping out a vitriolic "no" then returning to nibbling on a piece of coal. Fair enough, totally acceptable.
However, if they then go on to recite a bitter Socialist Worker diatribe claiming the State should provide everything and that by raising funds for a charity just reinforces the Government's position of avoiding paying for stuff then, sorry, that is not on.

To start with, such a statement is either a) case of turrets where all they can spout is garbage b) they like the sound of their own voice but still only speak garbage c) they've heard/read someone else's view which happens to be garbage but it had some big words in itd) it's how they were brought up (religious/social/racial filter) e) they have been unsuccessful in a fundraising event due to their low popularity and this has left them embittered.

Whatever the reason behind such a statement it is actually similar to the filtered/blinkered views of many people brought up within a religion. Is there a touch of irony here? Many religions have charitable acts as a key characteristic. Note: this is neither a pop at or a justification of religion, just a statement of fact

Unfortunately for anyone indulging in such a rant only proves what most people think - that they are an utter vacuous wanker (excuse my, ahem, French)

I would certainly not enter such a discussion without forethought, instead I prefer to mull it over and respond in a measured and thoughtful way instead of spewing up lunch as a quickfire response.

Firstly, I'd like to express the view that a mixture of private charitable functions and Government managed organisations are required. Government can't possibly manage or provide everything. The budget deficit has been building up for years - adding more burden on to the State is simply not feasible.
And if it were to be decided that Government could raise taxes specifically to take on the burden of charity, the cost would be a lot greater than the £11.3 Billion raised because administration by the state would be a lot greater (charities rely on volunteers or low-paid staff).
So, the cost would probably be between £20-30 billion, so that could by up to £1150 more tax per year for the income tax payers. and who would be worse hit? The poor. So, claiming the Government should deliver everything - what a daft thing to say!

So, what's good about money Charity instead of Government provision? well, here's some big hitters:-

Participation by choice - if you don't want to donate to a particular charity that is your choice.
A fairer "charity tax" - the poor don't have to donate, and the rich can donate as much as they like (whether they do or not is a different question)
Fairer distribution - choose who you want funds to go to rather than a Government algorithm
The virtue of participation - how good does it feel to volunteer at a charity shop, or to take part in a fundraiser? Flamin' great!
Helps people achieve closure - if a loved one has died you want to help a particular cause and in doing so it helps you to move on whilst retaining a connection
Localisation - donate locally and see the impact in your community
Not subject to political whims!
Helps causes that simply would not get Government funding - do you really think something like "make a wish" would ever get Government funding for what it does?
Expertise in certain fields can develop without Government red-tape
It enables companies to get involved in the community too

The RNLI is a great example of a charity that is doing a damn fine job without Government funding- in fact they refused it for some of the reasons I cited above.

Okay, so in a Utopian world Governments could write a cheque and life-threatening diseases and poverty would be cured, Hospitals would have every piece of equipment required, and all them brave people who thought for our freedom from Hitler and other Fundamentalists weren't actually wounded, traumatised or killed. But that's not the case. We have massive public debts, and inefficient bodies (such as the NHS) that continue to overburden the taxpayer - adding extra tax burden on the public or increasing debt won't solve anything.

So, I think in this brief article I've surmised why Charities should be kept separate from Government and why anyone who may have spat an opinion to the contrary has not thought it through and is a plonker.

I certainly think Charities could improve their own organisations through shared administration and other means, but they deliver more independently than they could via Government. And if it was a cheque-writing Government with no concept of accountability even less would be delivered.

Harrison's Walk

2011-04-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

On 30th April/1st May I’m walking 46.3miles with a group of friends along Peddars Way in Norfolk to raise funds in memory of Harrison Nicholl, who died when he was only 3 days old in February 2010.

In the words of Harrison’s Mum, Claire, here’s why we're doing it:-

Quidenham Children's Hospice (EACH)
"Why" - Some of you may or may not have heard of them. They are a registered charity that cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions and complex healthcare needs - They also offer bereavement support which we have been receiving since Harrison died and they have been absolutely wonderful. They rely on donations and they need £4million to deliver their services this year.

The Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at The Norfolk & Norwich Hospital.
"Why" - Harrison was cared for in the unit and we can not thank them enough for all of their care and attention, not just to Harrison but to myself and Simon (Harrison’s Dad). With their help and support we got to spend 3 precious days with him, we got to change his nappy, have lots of cuddles, give him his 1st bath, dress him in his first little outfit and we were even able to have him Christened.

On Harrison's final day with us we were taken to a private room where we were able to spend some time as a family on our own without all of the machines bleeping around us.

We want to raise money for a portable ventilator for this room. If the unit had one of these when Harrison was there we would have been able to spend more time with him on our own in private. I would love to help supply one of these machines so that any other parent's going through such an horrendous time are able to spend as much precious time with their little ones as possible.

50% of the funds raised will go to EACH and 50% to NNUH Neo-Natal Unit. We're only able to use the online fundraising pages for EACH but we're also collecting sponsorship via manual sponsorship forms so the money raised will be apportioned to make sure we have the 50/50 split.

If you'd like to donate please visit my fundraising page by clicking this link

Feedback

2011-04-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

One of the most annoying things about eBay is there is no comeuppance for buyers who do not leave feedback. I recently sold an item to someone who I later found out had not left feedback for anyone for 2 years, yet this blighter was a frequent buyer on eBay.

So, whilst this 23yr old (I'm guessing) job-shy bloke has built his feedback score, everyone who has sent an item to him in the North East have not received the positive feedback they deserve. It's sorely tempting to email eBay suggesting this individual is not playing by the book but I doubt it will make a difference.

Instead, I will simply check future buyers and if they have similar attitudes then I will not to leave feedback for them until positive feedback is received.

I will also block this individual from making future purchases from me. What goes around comes around.

On a positive note, Albion beat this bloke's hometown team 3-2 to move us towards saftety, and leave the Mackems looking over their shoulders towards the footy elite trapdoor. Get in!!!!!

Kick it up a notch

2011-04-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been listening to classic New Order tracks - a lot!

So, I've posted the timeless True Faith. Why choose this well known track instead of publicising a lesser known tune? Well, George Michael recently released a terrible cover of it (but it was to raise money for Comic Relief so some goof came from it) so I chose this track to remind everyone what a superb song it is.

Football skills

2011-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Just bought a Futsal ball and a Futebol de Salao for the boys.

These smaller heavier balls should help with development of Football skills. If works for the Brazilians then it can work in England, the home of Football!!!

What I'd like....

2011-02-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

There's loads of stuff I'd like to buy as a treat for myself, but the one thing I am very tempted by is a Kindle (or indeed any e-book reader).

However, as I don't have much time for reading (or anything!) at the moment, I guess it'll have to stay on my wish list.

Toy Story

2011-02-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

Ever since we went to Disneyland Paris in mid-November Ben has become a fan of Toy Story. Buzz Lightyear is his favourite.

Some of the rides at DLP are based on Toy Story so Ben asked what the characters names were. Since then he his reference to the "gang" receives titters of laughter and, of course, attempts to correct the error. So, here's a picture of......

STINKY DOG!

Happy Valentines

2011-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Whoever and wherever you are, hope today is good to you.

Words

2011-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have no desire to blog at the moment. In fact I can't get the inspiration to much creative stuff at the moment.

The reasons (in no particular order):-
- Work has melted my brain and leaves me little free-time to do anything other than breathe, eat or go to the loo
- My back/leg/hip still cause significant discomfort
- I'm waiting for a couple of story responses (1 from an Agent and another from a publisher) that I suspect will never turn up
- Kids are too loud
- It's hard to concentrate when WBA FC are on the verge of another relegation
- There seems to be a large degree of futility to everything

I'm unlikely to ever get the enthusiasm to put pen to paper to write stories ever again. After all, the story with the publisher has been with them for over a year, so I think I can safely write that one off. This is on the back of many rejections over the years.
If I don't hear back from the agent by April 5th it will have been 6 months, at which point I'll draw my writing career to an end. Send a follow up letter? Nah, no point. So, there we have it; a date has been set for an end to approximately 20 years of my on/off writing career.

I'm hoping this "funk" goes soon because I have business case to write (but looking back on the final bullet point above, why bother?)

In need of a horse tranquiliser!

2011-01-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

Fro two weeks I've been struggling with lower back and upper leg pains. I hoped it would go away. It has not. And today is the worst it has been.

At the moment I cannot sit down, stand up, lie down, or in fact do anything without excruciating pain.

In the words of the Verve, the drugs don't work. In fact, I think the only thing that might help numb the pain would be alcohol. However, every January (and sometimes February) I give up the booze in a New Year health kick. So, it's off to the Doctors tomorrow to see what they can do. As guns are illegal in the UK I'm pretty sure they won't put me out of my misery!!!! :-)

Another year over, the new one...about to begin

2010-12-31T15:05:00.000-08:00

I was going to write 10 good 10 bad, but I ran out of good things(and some of them are a bit weak) and the bad things kept increasing.... :-)

8 good

Holiday to Florida - the boys loved it!
Holiday to Disneyland Paris for the festive season -the boys loved it!
Trip to ThomasLand @ Drayton Manor - the boys loved it!
Becoming an uncle twice (and a god parent too) to two nieces
Raising 325US$ for charity just for growing a beard for 6 weeks
Spanish Sahara by Foals - top tune!
Getting a cool HTC smart phone
Toy Story 3 - almost made me blub!

10 bad

Mum in hospital - close call (she's okay now)
Death of close friend's son at 3 days old (hence the beard charity work)
Passing away of Uncle Harry
Nothing published (okay, not been pushing hard this year, mainly 'cos I've not had time to write)
Continued weight increase (about somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 stone - not good)
Lots of things breaking down and needing repairing/replacing - car, microwave, washing machine, tumble dryer, bed, porch roof, Christmas tree lights, drainage cover, .....etc etc.
Deal to buy a business did get off the ground due to the seller's "odd" behaviour
Car crash on way to airport
Administrative errors on US customs biometric records - still not sorted an error from 2006!
The battery life on my new phone!

I'll probably add and amend as and when I get more time to think about it. Put it this way, this list was thrown together quickly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Silver surfer!

2010-12-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

I sprayed the beard silver for work today, hoping to encourage people to donate to charity.

Unfortunately it didn't encourage any more donations but I'm pretty pleased with the modest amount raised in a short space of time and would like to thank all who were kind enough to want to help children suffering from life-threatening illnesses by donating to East Anglian Children's Hospices.

The donation page is still open for a few more days (i.e. until the beard goes away at the start of ther New Year) - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkTowers

I think I said it yesterday, but I'll say it again....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Cripes, the year has flown by

2010-12-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

I think I'll leave the yearly summary until after Christmas. Afterall, there's still another week until the end of the year.

So, as I probably won't get much time to blog tomorrow I'll take the opportunity to wish everyone (and I mean everyone!) best wishes over the festive holiday.

If you indulge in gift exchanges I hope you get want you were hoping for. and if you don't, then don't be too disappointed - you might find it in the sales!

I've pretty much got everything I want and need in life. Married to a wonderful person, and have two of the smartest and beautiful little boys (yes, the same 2 I moan about on this blog), all my original teeth, a house, a job within walking distance and a Football team (currently) in the Premier League.

So, I ask for very little at this time of year, preferring to give instead. If you too also feel you can spare a few pounds at this time of year please donate to East Anglian Children's Hospices via my giving page.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkTowers

Merry Christmas!

Classic from Ben

2010-12-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

As we drove home this evening Ben shouted,"Kiss me, I'm a frog!"

I'm guessing it's from a TV programme or an advert for a movie?

Reminder

2010-12-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

it's been a fairly busy blogging week (for me) and as a result the post containing the link to ny charity page raising funds for the East Anglian Children's Hospices (EACH) has been pushed down the page.

For those of you who haven't read that post EACH help children (and their families) who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

Top 5 Favourite Christmas Songs?

2010-12-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas (baby please come home)- Darlene Love
Do you hear what I hear? - Andy Williams' version
Little Saint Nick -The Beach Boys
Merry Christmas Everybody - Slade
I want an Alien for Christmas - Fountains of Wayne

Tell me yours!

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Beard side-effect

2010-12-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

One the reasons I originally cited for growing a beard was the cold weather. Indeed, that is true. I'm pretty sure that the cold spell influenced my thinking when we returned from Euro Disney 3 weeks ago.
However, there is an unwanted side effect of facial hair during sub-zero temperatures; condensation.

Moist particles (particularly from breathing out through the nostrils!) attach themselves to the beard, making one self-conscious about possible dampness above the lip! It is a perculiar occurence and not one I was expecting.

When I was 21....

2010-12-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

It is probably about 15 years since I left my face fluff growing for more than 10 days.

Oddly enough that was before Christmas too - I've probably got some photos of this last half-decent attempt stored away in a shoe box in the loft! Maybe if I get some time spare I'll find it, scan it (because it's pre-digital) and post it on here (or on my sponsorship page.)

Beardy weirdy xmas challenge

2010-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Yep -I'm going to impersonate a GCSE Geography teacher by growing a beard for the festive period! All I need is a jacket with leather elbow patches and I'm there!

Actually, I'm using my facial fluff for good. I'm hoping to keep it until the end of the year and in doing so will be raising funds for East Anglian Children's Hospices.

the link to my online donations page is below.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkTowers

Although I'm adverse to having my photo taken (not many on my blog is there!) I will endeavour to take a few update piccies and put them on here. I've already added on as my profile photo on my donation page.

Nursery Nativity

2010-12-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

It was Ben's nursery nativity and Christmas party today.

The little fella was dressed as a one of the three Kings, and it totally suited him - a promotion from being my little Prince!

They sang about half a dozen songs (or in Ben's case a dozen words spread over half the songs) which is was pretty good for a bunch of pre-schoolers.

On the way to nursery he warmed up with a quick sing song of "happy birthday" - As it was not anyone's birthday he sang "happy birthday to nobody" - bless!

Guess what's on my Xmas list?

2010-12-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Family Guy Star Wars It's a Trap - sneak preview

Freakin' sweet!

Footy

2010-12-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Like all honest people of the world I'm totally peeved over Fifa's World Cup decision today.

Giving the tournament to Russia send out all the following signals, including:-

Human rights records in the host nation are not important
Racism is acceptable (ditto if it had gone to Spain/Portugal)
Football fans are not considered when making these decisions
Hooliganism is okay
Standards of stadia are not important
The rules of the bidding process (not slandering opponents etc) are there to be broken (just like Putin and the head of the Russian bid did)
Corruption/bribery pays off

Great signal to send Fifa!

So, I had to chuckle when I saw this.
http://strayving.blogspot.com/2010/12/corruption-at-fifa_02.html

I think it's time we took our ball (a proper one, not the stupid Jabulani) back and start from scratch with a fair governing body (okay, the FA ain't great but they're better than the rest). this way we won't have idiotic rules made up by some crazy Swiss despot (Sepp Fatter) who has never played the game and doesn't even understand the rules.

Rant over! :-)

Christmas isn't far away!!!!

2010-11-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

So, here's some gift ideas!

Snort funny!

2010-10-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Ben made up his first "knock knock" joke the other day.

Ben: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Ben: Pig
Me: Pig who?
Ben (points at me): There!

As ever I thought of the witty riposte too late - Cheeky little swine!

Okay, he's not quite grasped the concept of knock knock jokes, but it was so out of the blue that it was quite funny so laughed quite a bit. He now tells it at every opportunity and howls with laughter to encourage his audience to laugh too!

Flock

2010-10-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Whilst driving around Norwich on Sunday I pointed our a large white French Poodle to Ben, my 2 year old.

His response was (quite sincerely) "I want a sheep!"

I tweet!

2010-10-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah baby! Last week I decided to start tweeting.

I've resisted for a while because I'm stilll fond of full length blogging, even though it means I sit here for long periods of time pondering what to blog (and then realising how boring my life is when no subject crops up!) but I've always been evangelical about the power of this interweb-thing, so I do need to play at being a tweeter in order for work purposes.

I don't think tweeting will take away from this blog because tweets are more sput of the moment (like the fire at Zizzi's pizza restaurant in Norwich today) whereas this blog is often a reflection of the day or days gone by.

So, my most recent tweets will appear on this blog (at ths side) and you can follow me @originalmajato. I kept it the same as this blgo because it's nice and easy to remember and because there are many pretend majato's but there can only ever be 1 originalMaJaTo.

There's a shark in the park!!!

2010-10-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

In the absence of anything worth blogging about I figured I'd stick this in. My boys love it (and I do too!)

don't you hate it...

2010-10-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

...when your tapping away on the keyboard when suddenly most of what you have typed disappears, possibly because your hand came within a few millimeters of the mousepad on your laptop?

Not too bad when you are writing in Word, Powerpoint etc, but when it's a rant on your blog it doesn't seem to allow you to "undo"

I can't be arsed to retype the rant, which was a pop at Ebay (shock, horror)

Uncle Harry

2010-10-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick link to some articles relating to the recent passing away of my Uncle Harry in case any members of my family are reading.

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/tributes_to_norfolk_lifeboat_hero_killed_in_tragedy_1_662078

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Tributes-after-longserving-lifeboatman-dies.6565712.jp

http://www.rnli.org.uk/wcm/site/pages/access/media/printableVersion.aspx?article=612791&transform=425588

Yay for October

2010-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

I was tempted to explain to Luke that October has its origins with the latin number 8 (octó), which can also be found in words such as Octopus and Octagon.

He kinda likes languages so I would've mentioned some foreign numbers that are similar, such as:-
Ocho - Spanish
Acht - German /Dutch
Otto - Italian
Oito - Portuguese
Agt - Afrikaan
οκτώ - Greek

However, to do so I would need to explain why October is the 10th month, not the eighth. I'll leave that one for now.

10 is the magic number

2010-09-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

I set out to achieve double figures this month, but a couple of weeks of blog absenteeism almost jeopardised this modest ambition.

So, here I am, writing my 10th post in September purely so I can reach achieve this feat.

Is that cheating? Yes.

Do I care? No.

Will I match or even exceed 10 posts next month? Unlikely.

Normally I like food....

2010-09-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

...but right at this moment it is not my friend.

On Friday night we drove up to Hull in order to see relatives and go to an afternoon barbecue at a friends' house.

I didn't feel at hungry as I normally do at these occasions (remember: food is my friend) but still enjoyed the occasion with a plate of well cooked (maybe even over-cooked) meats, and a couple of slices of cake.

D took the first stint driving home. . As we progressed my stomach felt bloated, and I felt nauseous. I tried to hold it in, but after less than an hour I desperately needed to stop for fresh air. Unfortunately that wasn't all I needed to stop for! I only just made it to a tree before heaving. Not once, but three times. I just hope there weren't any CCTV cameras in Lincoln. Someone was watching - Luke. He decided that he now felt sick and the next time we stopped he tried to wretch!

The journey is normally fairly long (about 4.5hrs with a couple of pitstops) but this time it felt longer than ever. I felt rough for entire journey, needing to stop frequently, especially as another part of my body wanted to be in on the action!!!!

I've spent most of the day resting on the couch and still feel really rough, my stomach is bloated and, ahem, normal service has not resumed yet. My throat feels really rough too, probably from all that heaving.

And the working week starts tomorrow. Joy.

Pope off

2010-09-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Firstly, an apology to any of my friends reading this who are religious. You know I respect you and your society, and it is this respect I hope to receive in turn despite my atheism - I believe I do receive this from you. This post refers to a distinct lack of respect not only to my Country (England) but also to my belief (well, the lack of!) from someone with a white hat who should know better.

Those of you who know me will realise I keep opinions to myself, going on with the philosophy of letting others live their lives as they so choose. When I first heard that the Pope was coming to the UK I was not overly fussed. After all, he seems a harmless old bloke in a dress. It's not as if he's coming to incite hatred and violence like some other preachers.

However, once I learnt that his visit was to be paid for by UK tax payers my opinion changed. Why? Mainly because the Catholic Church is extremely wealthy and can easily afford to pay for this, but also because the UK's Head of State (Her Royal Maj, EII) is also Head of the Church of England - Protestant, not Catholic. The number of Catholics in the UK is around/less than 1m, out of a total population of 67m - pretty small (and the majority of them are Scottish, who don't pay much tax anyway!)

But, hey, what you do? I had no intention of voicing my complaints about this extra burden on the economy.

But the Pontiff and his cronies has pushed the button today. In a speech by the Pope he associated Atheism with Nazism, and his aide, Cardinal Walter Kasper, has said that "England today is a secularised, pluralistic country. When you land at Heathrow Airport, you sometimes think you'd landed in a Third World country" and his refers to "aggressive Neo-atheism" in England, claiming that we discriminate against Christians.

Let's look at some facts:-

The Catholic Churches views are no longer relevant to the modern world. They are almost as medieval as Islam
The Pope is:-

Opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids
Denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women
Opposing equal rights for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people
Meddling in children's education - education is state responsibility, not the Church
Failing to address the many cases of abuse of children by paedophile priests globally
Trying to bribe people into Catholic faith by offering money (according to Reverend Ian Paisley)

Pope Benedict was a member of the Hitler Youth, and has in the past quoted Nazi philosophers to back up his hardline views
The Catholic church lecture people about the sanctity of vows (whether it's marriage or priests' vow of celibacy) but priests involved in sex scandals are regular tabloid events
The Vatican has Mafia connections (search for books on the Vatican Mafia)
The Catholic Church deny the rights of women in society. If they had their way women would still be chained to the kitchen sink - no wonder they won't allow women priests!
It is a fact that the UK Government discriminate in favour of minority faiths and immigrants. Whilst Christians may feel some of this directed at them (crosses banned at school, whilst burqas, nijabs and ceremonial daggers are okay) Atheists also suffer in this and any other society. As a silent and peaceful majority, we have accepted this because of the non-secular history.
The "discrimination" that Wally Kasper refers to was established under Tony Blairs' government. Blair is a devoted Christian and a Catholic convert!

Atheists are not uncivilised, we are not lacking in morals and we are certainly not violent. As an Atheist I live my life by high moral standards, letting others get on with their lives, hoping they too will keep to accepted world morals. After all, morals are not the sole preserve of religion, and going on the reputation of the Catholic Church, they don't seem to have any morals at all!

Finally, Remember, the majority of wars have been caused by religion - who's the violent aggressive now, Pope?

So, Benedict, Walter and your cronies - you can take a bloody long walk of a very short pier, for Christ's sake!

There. I said it. Rant over. I encourage people to join this website. http://www.protest-the-pope.org.uk/

Non-dairy creamer cannon

2010-09-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite explosions on Mythbusters.

Sounds a bit wierd without Robin Banks doing the voiceover.

I'm reliably informed

2010-09-09T15:52:00.001-07:00

...that this song will be played a lot when we next visit Eurodisney.

Local stuff - Norwich Castle

2010-09-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Remember a long time ago I said I'd start sticking the occasional piece in here about Norwich and the surrounding area?

Well, I did a couple of articles and then I forgot about it, until now.

So, I figured I'd prattle on about Norwich Castle. Afterall, it is pretty much the centre piece of the City.

Norwich castle was built in 1067 at the request of William the Conqueror originally as a motte and bailey(mound) with a wooden keep, which was replaced by the current stone keep at the around 1120. The old structure was more about defending an important City such as Norwich (which was the 2nd largest City in England at the time), but the stone castle was originally a royal palace and later it was used a prison. It has been a museum for the past 126 years.

Birthday treat

2010-09-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Poor little Ben is suffering with the chicken pox- it's keping him awake (which in turn is kee[ing us awake...)

On the bright side, he has a birthday treat to look forward to as I'm taking the family to Disneyland Paris just before his birthday. I've timed it so that we should catch the start of the Christmas festivities. Yey!

I do feel a bit guilty about doing Florida and Paris in the same year (and if we count the Lake District then that's three holidays) but they're only young once and I really want to see their reactions to Disney at Christmas!

Last time we went we caught the winter ice show, which was great (see below) so we know what they're capable of!

Poor ickle fella

2010-09-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Aw, my little Ben has got chicken pox, poor ickle fella!

He was supposed to start at playschool on Monday, now he'll probably have to miss the whole week, and I'll have to work from home a couple of days to look after him.

Everytime we check him he has more spots and none of them are scabbing over yet. Here's a yucky picture to give an idea what his back might look very like soon! I can't take his picture right now because he's asleep.

picture source: http://www.midizone.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/chicken-pox.jpg

Mediaeval me

2010-09-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Last bank holiday monday (30th August) we went to Pensthorpe.
If you've seen Springwatch on BBC you'll probably know about Pensthorpe. For those of you who haven't heard about it, Pensthorpe is a nature reserve "set in 500 acres of beautiful countryside with meadows, woodland and lakes." Basically there are lots of waterfowl, and other birds, plus other animals such as red squirrels.

This weekend there was also a "mediaeval spectacular" with people dressed in ye olde garb, knights on horseback, archery, crossbow shooting etc.

I did try my hand at using a simple crossbow (pretty successfully too). I did fancy having a go at archery (I've done it once before and really enjoyed it) but they only had a kiddies version, so I opted against it.

I also got roped into trying on a knight's helmet - here's a couple of pictures.

They encouraged Sir Chatalot (aka Luke) to wallop me over the head with a sword, demanding more pocket money!

Oh, and here's a bonus picture I found whilst uploading these. It's me again at Pensthorpe showing off my archery skills a few months ago.

Overall, it was a good day at Pensthorpe. the only bad things was the pesky wasps!

Sods Law - part 2

2010-09-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yep. As predicted on Tuesday, Wednesday (yesterday) was warm and sunny, so packing the pool away was presumptious. A point brought home by the joyful noises of my neighbours' kids as they frolicked in their pool.

Sods law in action

2010-08-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

8 weeks ago we put an easy-up pole (10ft wide, great for the kids) in the garden. 8 weeks later and I can count the number of times we've been in the pool on one hand (with a couple of fingers to spare.)

I've spent hours every week fighting a losing battle to keep the darned thing clean, in the hope that perhaps the sun would put his hat on and we'd be saying "hip hip hooray" and doing other mad dogs and Englishmen type stuff. But, oooooooh no, Mr Sun was not in the mood to play. This summer has been very autumnal, and at times somewhat winterish.

So, this weekend I decided it was time for the pool to go. It's supposed to be easy to empty. I say "supposed" but things are never what they are "supposed" to be. After 3 elapsed days, hundred of buckets tossed on to saturated grass(it was raining whilst I did some of this) and some wet clothes I finally finished emptying the pool this evening. I pondered the near hilarious situation of the "law of sod" coming in to play as today has been the sunniest day we've had for weeks. Okay, there was a bit of a chill in the air because it's been quite windy so we wouldn't have gone in the pool. But, what's the betting it is an absolute scorcher tomorrow or for the rest of this week?

Well, the weatherman says sunny and clear 20C tomorrow and Friday with overcast days either side, so I'm okay 'cos these guys are ALWAYS RIGHT. Right? WRONG!

I'm might take a picture of the wonderful momento the pool has left - A 10ft wide brown circle on my previously perfect lawn.

JCB Song

2010-08-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Now, I've posted some really great tunes below, and, yes, here's another.

I consider this a missed opportunity. For many people it rightly reminds of their Dad, especially those who have passed away. For me, I meant to play it to Luke when he was 5. Watch it to find out why (and enjoy the other videos too.)

Okay. That's it for memory lane for now. I'll get back to the rants, observations etcetera on my next post. Honest.

While I'm at it....

2010-08-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Lets have some Darling Buds too from the same year (1990)

...and The Belltower from 1991 (might need to turn the volume up on this one.)

Ok. One last one. This is just Dean and Britta, who I have literally discovered (thanks YouTube) -Britta was in The Belltower - wow. Good stuff.

The one and only Betty Boo

2010-08-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Guess who is sentimental about youth today and has been browsing YouTube again.

Here's a couple of classic tunes from 1990 from brillian Betty Boo (live on Top of the Pops.)

I checked Wiki and Betty only turned 40 this year. Recent videos confirm she still looks great!

YouTube does turn up some gems like these, but you can find some rubbish too. I also found a more recent artist trying to use Betty Boo's name. As the Shamen said, "Naughty, naughty. Very naughty!" - not really a problem though because the imposters video was rubbish (so bad that I won't post it here!)

Heavy head

2010-08-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were on holiday in the English Lake District. For the majority of the time Ben was on my back in a "backpack thing" or on my shoulders.

One time when carrying him on my shoulders he started to nuzzle his head on the top of my head, trying to get comfortable, chatting away as usual. Then it went quiet and the weight on my head seemed heavier. I caught a glimpse of him in a car window - Ben was asleep. This was reaffirmed a moment later when his head slipped a little and he started snoring in my ear!

I had to chuckle, but not much in case I woke him up! Walking back to the apartment was a tricky balancing act because it was up a very steep path, which is hard enough without a precious little snorer on your head!

Cheryl Cole will be pleased

2010-08-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

At last. The kit maker has finally sorted the spelling mistake on the back of Ashley Cole's shirt!

Perhaps he should text this picture to girls instead of pictures of his little winky.

Good luck to Arsenal and Man Utd in the Premiership title race this season.
Lets hope Chelski and Man Sheki fail - they've ruined football and their obscene spending must be stopped.

Laugh? Yep

2010-07-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest posts I've read in recent times was on "hyperbole and a half" blog.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html

Material that I can relate to makes it funnier, for sure!

A friend of a friend of a ....you get the picture

2010-07-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I'll hit the "next blog" button on blogger and see where it takes me. Other times I'll go to a friends blog, randomly choose one of their blog links and see what's of interest.

On this occasion I went to my friend Kerry's blog (http://windmillwatching.blogspot.com/) then went to her friend Kate's page (http://world-of-kate.blogspot.com/ -Kate also happens to be from the UK. Wolverhampton to be precise - here's hoping she prefers the stripey [and, ahem, baggier] side of the Black Country football derby! aye aye boing boing!)
From there I ended up somehow "C Jane enjoy it" (http://blog.cjanerun.com/) which then led me to Reagan's blob (http://www.reagansblob.com/) where I dwelled for a while. If you've ever read it you'll know why I spent a fair bit of time at Reagan's blob and why I was moved to write this post despite it being past midnight on a school night ( and I've got an all day workshop tomorrow...!)

Like most blokes I'm hard to move. Bambi and E.T. tried their best to no avail. But kids, well that's something different.

Read all the blogs above. They are all great people with great ways of telling their life stories. But promise me you'll stop by Reagan's and smile at the joy Piper brings to her and Jake's lives.

New look

2010-07-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Following on from the makeover at MaJaTo Scribes I've decided to freshen things up here at Original MaJaTo.

The force moves in mysterious ways

2010-07-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

Disney. Star Wars. Florida. 3 things I like a lot.

Put them together and you get Star Tours and the Jedi Training Academy at Disney Hollywood Studios ( still prefer the old moniker of MGM Studios) and every year they have Star Wars weekends too (normally around May/June time.)

A few months ago Luke got to fight Darth Maul at the Training Academy (bad idea- he now thinks he's a trained Jedi!!!!). Unfortunately Ben was too young, which was a shame because he was desperate to fight Darth Vader!!!

Whilst playing around on YouTube for Star Wars related footage I found some of the characters from a Star Wars weekend involved in a bizarre dance-off which someone shot a couple of years ago. I thought I'd post it on here for y'all to enjoy!

Wake up call

2010-07-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

6.30am is actually quite late to be woken up by either/both of my boys.

This morning I woke up to find Ben sat next to my head, just below my pillow.

Aw, what a nice way to wake up. That is until I realise he has no pull-ups on. No pull-ups means they've been removed....by him. He has a habit of doing this in the morning, most often after he's done a poo.

On realising this I jumped ot of bed and lifted the somewhat bemused Ben out of bed to reveal a nice "streak" on the bed sheets, just inches from where my head had been!

I dashed through to the bathroom still holding the toddler (he's still only 2) only to find poo smeared on the toilet seat lid and the carpet.

Ok. I'm now wide awake. Thanks Ben.

Busy bit of blogging

2010-06-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Woah, slow down fella!

This has been my must active blogging month since December 2007. Okay this is only the 7th entry but that just goes to show how inactive I've been over the last few years! No doubt normal (i.e 2-4) service will resume next month. So, if you enjoy reading about an fully fledged adult bemoaning his national Football team or you like Kung-Fu Jedi Bears read on!

Actually, I've been ever busier than I've just stated because I also added several old stories and poems on MaJaTo Scribes too!

Some of the boys antics may return to the blog too (whenever I remember to blog about these gems!)

Jedi Bear!

2010-06-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

My migrain is (hopefully) going. Hooray!

So, to cheer myself up I found Darth Bear on Youtube.

Okay, now here'w the original without the "special" effects.

Plus, to prove it's not a one off, the same bear plays with a different stick.

And finally, if you ever need a brief explanation of Star Wars then perhaps this video might help.

Not well

2010-06-28T01:38:00.000-07:00

I've got a pesky migraine which started up yesterday morning.

It didn't really help my "enjoyment" of the football (see below)

Phooey

2010-06-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

That's it then. It's all over. What a load of rubbish.

Still, there was a moment in the 1st half when things seemed to be on the up. Our worst player on the pitch (Upson) had pulled a goal back to make it to 2-1 (it was a really poor header but it somehow looped in) and we were back on the attack. the ball fell to Lampard and he let rip. The ball cannoned off the underside of the cross-bar and bounced.......1 whole metre over the line and then bounced back into the keepers hands.
I'm jumping, I'm screaming with delight. That is until the referee made the worst decision in football history. Ever. No goal. Bollo*ks!

And the rest is history. Just maybe if we had gone in at half time level we could've pushed on in the second half. Instead we looked as poor as we had in the first 2 matches. Capello's substitutions were both baffling and inept, the back four (after being the most effective part of the team in the first 3 games) were none existent and the whole side seemed drained of all hope.

I guess the early signs were there when the referee actually tackled one of our players and set up a German attack! I cold say that every time the linesman gave us offside they saluted the fuhrer but that would be just bitterness. At the end of the day the Germans played together as a team. The annoying thing is had England played with a bit more togetherness this football match was there for the taking. The Germans aren't as good as they make themselves out to be and looked fallible at the back.

And the stats suggested England were on top. We had more shots on target, more possession, hardly any difference in the number of passes and tackles.

Were we robbed? Maybe. It's all ifs and buts. The only thing I'm sure of is this. The referee and the linesman who failed to spot a clear goal should never be involved in international football ever again. And as for Sepp ~~Fatter~~ Blatter he should hang his head in shame and give up his evil grip on the most powerful job in Football. And if he doesn't I suggest we force him out with a coup. Afterall, we invented the blinking game. I would suggest we take our ball home with us, but the ball just so happens to be a German one and is the worst ball ever made.

Next time, Fifa, give the job of making the World Cup football to Mitre. They make much better Footballs than Adolf Dassler. Here's a decent football for my U.S. readers. Mitre Platinum Football, Official Size 5 (White/Blue)

And here's the world's most advanced ball for UK readers (don't think this is available in U.S. yet, but I'd suggest buying this over the stupid beachball that is the Jubalani.

Right. Rant over. Laters. :-)

Good Luck

2010-06-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to wish the England team all the best against Germany tomorrow.

I think it'll be a humdinger of a match between two great footballing sides.

Although our recent record against the Germans at major tournaments isn't great (I'm thinking of 1990 and 1996 particularly) but overall I think the score is 12-12 (and I'm being generous by giving Germany the two draws that they then won on penalties.

Our world cup hasn't been great so far, but I'm forever hoepful that we have a chance.

Writing

2010-06-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just in case you're interested I've posted some old stories and poems on MaJaTo Scribes, which is also undergoing a design refresh too.

Disappointed

2010-06-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Disappointed, to say the least.

I thought England had done enough to win last night's football match.

Before the absolute howler from Green we looked very comfortable and dominating. Cracking early goal from Stevie Gerrard and he seemed to be playing really well for the first 30 minutes.

But after Green's error, the game seemed flat. England still did most of the attacking, but seemed to lack something.

To be fair, USA were pretty well organised, and hard to break down. That's how they set up their stall (only one player in the squad is classed as a centre forward/striker) so that made it difficult, but there was hardly any threat to Green's goal (only Green himself!)

I blame the damn Vuvuzelas!

Oh well. A draw is a point. So, all we need to do now is spank Algeria and Slovenia and everything will be cushdy.

Beckham gets told off for kicking a football

2010-06-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

As we all know, Beckham is out of the worlds greatest competition, Football's World Cup, after he ruptured his achille tendon in March, but he couldn't resist having a few kicks of the ball despite an on-hand medic warning him against it. Footage can be seen at the link below.

Beckham gets told off for kicking a football

I suspect I'm not the only English fan who watched this and thought, bl**dy hell, wouldn't it be great if they announced he was fit before Friday (staight swap for Wright-Phillips.Sorry Shaun.)

Disney

2010-05-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Piccy of us on recent visit to Magic Kingdom - if you click on it you'll see the e-card version with fanfare n'all!

Yay for me

2010-03-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a caption competition I won recently.
http://www.footballfancast.com/caption-competition-gallery/attachment/capcompwinner26feb-2
Of course, like all Football fans (especially English ones!) I'm gutted for Beckham who is unlikely to feature in the World Cup in June because of a torn achilles tendon.

Here's a link to an article for the local newspaper where I took the photo (from the top front seat of a double-decker bus!)
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/eveningnews24/norwich-news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=xNews&itemid=NOED12%20Mar%202010%2010%3A52%3A07%3A910

I am of course hoping for other things (i.e. stories) to get published this year, but the small amount of kudos for anything published no matter how small is always appreciated :-)

Autism

2010-03-13T01:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a really interesting article I read about Autism - well worth a read.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1194841/I-helped-son-beat-autism-making-weetabix.html

I actually found it when searching to see if anyone had ever won anything on the weetabixonemillion competition - I found no one who claimed to have won.....

Anyway, I digress. The article inspired me to find some useful links on autism. My boys are fine but I do know people who do have autistic children and I can only imagine the difficulties they encounter.

http://www.defeatautismnow.com/

http://www.adders.org/natrem_aia.htm

http://www.autism-pdd.net/autism-treatments.html

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/aia.html

Silly sausage

2010-02-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

Ben (pointing at me) : Daddy a boy!

Me: S'right. What about mummy?

Ben: Mummy a girl!

Me: Well done. What are you then?

Ben: Ben a boy!

Me: Okay. What about Luke?

Ben (pointing at his brother): Luke's a sausage!!!

Good and sad

2010-02-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my brother and his wife were gifted with their second child; a little girl. So, now they have a son and daughter, and I'm pleased that they got what they wanted.

However, this good news was massively over-shadowed when I heard the tragic news that a close friend's wife gave birth to their first born on the 5th but he passed away 3 days later. I'm absolutely gutted for them because I know they will be great parents and I was so keen to see little Harrison playing with Luke and Ben one day. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Shark!

2010-02-08T13:23:00.001-08:00

I felt the need to dig around for footage of rare sharks earlier (like ya do!) and when I saw this I had to post it.

It's a "Deep Sea Frill Shark" - I remember seeing it on the news a few years ago (I took a picture of Luke stood in front of the TV because I thought this shark looked super-cool!)

Not happy with Ebay

2010-01-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

I went to sell a couple of DVDs earlier and was informed that I had to post them for free because all the big businesses who sell 99.99999% of DVDs on Ebay do so.

Pardon my french, but the cheecky beggers at Ebay can kiss my spotty botty. I may as well just send a cheque to Ebay and throw the DVDs in the bin.

For info

2010-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

happy new year and all that Jazz.

Sorry, I don't have time for proper blogging as usual.

Just thought I'd mention a new (i.e. old) poem has been added over at MaJaTo Scribes

Shock and Awe

2009-12-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Shock 1
Actually not really a shock - a pleasant surprise. Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name of" reaching the no'1 spot in the UK singles chart for Christmas - all in aid of stopping another bland Simon Cowell X Factor "song" from taking the festive spot. Okay, I'm pretty sure some people reading this blog won't be fans of ROTM's music (and I personally would've loved a Christmas song to be the anti-Cowell weapon), but Cowell had to be stopped sooner or later and the smash the system theme of "Killing..." captured the imagination of the public. ROCK ON!!!

Shock 2
The tragic news of Brittany Murphy dying at the age of 32. A total shock.

Shock 3
Again not a shock, more of a "sods law". I (and several members of my family) have the flu just in time for Christmas. At least there's a couple more days to get it out of the system and on the bright side I've finished my shopping and have nearly wrapped up all the presents!!!

Awe
Awesome actually - less than 100 days to go until I'm in sunny Florida for the 6th time!!!!! Yeah for me and my family too!!!!!

Feeling festive?

2009-12-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Little Ben's got in the spirit. Frequently throughout the day he walks up to people and says "oh oh oh, erry mistmas!" Bless :-)

Here's a picture of the festive little fellow last Christmas (at the grand age of 1)

In writing mode

2009-12-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

After a few years out of the habit I've started writing again.

Writing time has always been limited, but with the two nippers running round the house and increased day-job demands the small amount of time available became almost non-existent. During the past 6 years I've written a few stories here and there, but they've felt forced, and the end result was stories I wasn't happy with and didn't have the time to work on them properly.

The challenges of parenthood has brought opportunities too. Over the last year I've somehow found time to write a couple of very short stories (for the young picture book market) and these went down well with the boys.

It's only recently that I decided to revisit one of them and put some effort into refining it and submitting it to a publisher, which has given me the buzz I've been missing.

Yesterday I sat down and wrote a new picture book story in 30 minutes, and after a review with my in-house Editor (handy having a teacher for a wife!) it was refined to the point of being fully satisfied with the story within 2 hours. A publisher has been identified and I'll be submitting that story in the next couple of days.

That'll be 2 submissions in a week!!! The only pain is waiting 6+ months and potentially never hearing anything.

Still, that gives me plenty of time to work on the next stories. I've already got 4 more in the pipeline and hope to complete them by the end of the year! :-)

The stories are now written for my boys; getting published will be a bonus! :-)

Visit MaJaTo Scribes

Wear your old band t-shirt to work day! 4th December 2009

2009-12-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq has declared December 4th as the second Wear Your Old Band T-Shirt To Work Day. Oh, man, too much choice. Carter USM, Pixies, Frank Black, Nirvana, Pop Will Eat Itself, Mudhoney, Tanya Donelly, Honey Buzzards, Kingmaker, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins.....they're only the ones I can remember off the top of my head.....the list goes on and on and on....!

Remote Control

2009-10-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick breakdown of how the remote control is used in my house, in order or intelligent utilisation(in my opinion.)

1) Me. I rarely watch TV yet I know the numbers of all channels I like to watch, and know my way around the control very well. This is so that whenever I'm in the room and Wendy is watching some rubbish programme I can quickly change the channel to something I want on whilst she's out of the room (and back again!)
2) Wendy. Given the high volume of TV she watches in the evening the remote is not far from her reach, so she is pretty much the controller of the control.
3) Luke. Knows how to switch the TV on and knows he needs to key in some numbers to get his programmes (Ben 10, Star Wars, Mickey Mouse, Imagination Movers etc)
4) Ben. Uses the remote to whack Luke over the head.

And who achieves the most with their use of the remote? Ben, of course!

He gets what he wants:-
- Attention (for kids bad attention is on a par with good!)
- Inflicts pain on his big brother
- Gets Luke in trouble if Luke retaliates

Baby talk

2009-10-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Little Ben has a reasonable dose of words splattered amongst the babble, and generally when we point to something and say what it is he'll repeat the word quite well.

However, there's one we figured he might've got by now....

Me (pointing to Mummy):- "Ben, who's that?"
Ben: Me Mummy!
Me (pointing to me):- "Who am I?"
Ben: Daddy!
Me (pointing to Luke:- "Ben, who's that?"
Ben:- Jukie!
Me (pointing to Ben):- "Okay, what's your name?"
Ben (patting his tummy):- Baby!!!!!

He does it on purpose nowadays because he knows it gets a laugh and from time to time we do get a "Ben", "Ban" and on one occasion "Bum"!

For no reason....

2009-09-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

..here's somefunny cat clips.

Things to know about Norwich

2009-09-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

I've decided to add an extra dimension to my blog by blogging about the City (Norwich) and the County (Norfolk) where I live.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop the usual mixed bag of football moaning, kid frustrations, music videos, humour and general opinion. It's just something else to throw into the mix. :o)

So, let's start with the Sea Henge. Yep, Sea Henge. Everyone in the civilised world has heard of Stonehenge, but have you heard of Sea Henge?

Discovered in 1998 emerging from a beach at Holme-next-the-Sea this 4000 year-old timber circle dates back to the bronze age.

It had beeen covered by a peat dune but Sea Henge became exposed when the dune was swept away by winter storms.

Unfortunately leaving it exposed would've caused Sea Henge to be destroyed by the sea, so it was moved to the King's Lynn Musuem.

Image Source: http://www.geocities.com/jilaens/stones.html

Manta, Seaworld, Orlando

2009-09-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

I am soooooooo looking forward to riding this next year!

check out this video I found on YouTube.

Jeez...

2009-09-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

...It's been a long while since I posted my last entry.

I figured I'd return with a youtube video about the search for intelligent life.

yay!

2009-07-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

We're off on holiday for a week, to the good ole Lake District - "Wainwright country"

I probably won't be posting any photos as my camera's broke (and my camcorder is a bit rubbish for pictures.

Sir Bobby Robson

2009-07-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

The world has lost a true legend today.

Sir Bobby played for West Bromwich Albion from 1956 to 1962, playing 257 times for the club, scoring 60 goals and going on earn 20 caps for England.

But it was a manager that he'll be most remembered by everyone. His stint as England manager was unrewarded with a trophy but it is looked back as a high point for the home of football, with Robson being the most successful since Sir Alf Ramsey won the World Cup in 1966.
Indeed it was only dishonest conduct from Argentina's Maradona that denied England progress in the 1986 World Cup, and in 1990 they lost to West Germany in the Semi-final of the World Cup. The most important trophy in the world would've looked great being held up by one of the best managers ever to grace the game.

And a club level too he had geat success. No-one had ever heard of Ipswich Town Football Club before Robson took from nowhere to winners of the oldest and most prestigious football competition (the FA Cup) and then the EUFA Cup in Europe too, before moving to the England post.
Successful spells in Europe followed at Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon and Porto, before joining his boyhood team Newcastle United, where he took them into the top 3 sides in England before he left the club 5 years ago at the age of 71.

What people will miss the most is the man himself. Reknowned as a true gentleman, whenever you saw him on TV you knew is a man you could talk to. What is less known is his fight with cancer, the disease that finally overcame this true battler.
Sir Bobby was first diagnosed with cancer in 1991, and over the last 18 years he has been diagnosed with 5 different types of cancer, battling each one face-on.

Sir Bobby Robson. Legend. you will be sadly missed.

Sir Bobby Robson Foundation

Michael Jackson's arcade

2009-07-18T04:58:00.001-07:00

check this out!

Michael Jackon's Neveland ranch arcade

Laurie Cunningham 8 March 1956 – 15 July 1989

2009-07-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's 20 years to the day that Laurie Cunningham died in a car crash in Madird.

Laurie joined West Bromwich Albion Football Club in 1977. Laurie broke a lot of round as a player and a man. 30 years ago it was are for black players to be playing professional football and racist abuse from the terraces was shocking (a bit like being in Spain or Eastern Europe nowadays). So, Albion had three black players in the shape of Cunningham, Cyril Regis and Brendon Batson this was unheard of. It coincided with a period of time where Albion were one of the best footballing teams in Europe.

Laurie was the first black player to represent England at any level, and also the first to represent them in a competitive international.

His skills as an Albion player got lots of attention and in 1979 he was the first English player to sign for Real Madrid for £995k.

Desipte early success in Madrid he didn't quite recapture the form that made him one of Albion's greatest ever footballer and he had a bit of a Journeyman career, but was looking forward to facing Madrid in the Spanish topflight for local rivals Rayo Vallecano; a club he had just helped gain promotion.

Still, for those of us who saw him play, he will live long in the memories, and twenty years on his magic is missed.

A couple of years ago I showed the video below on this blog, and you can see how great a player Laurie Cunningham was. you will also notice the aforementioned racism from the crowd.

And the strangest thing is when walking into work this morning I was thinking about a close friend who died in a car crash less than 2 years after Laurie (before I realised it was the anniversary of Laurie's death.)

Pesky bugs

2009-07-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

After spending an enjoyable weekend in the garden, I have 4 large bites on my right leg.

Two of them ar absolute buggers!

The one near my ankle is so easy to scratch, and the one on the back of my thigh is so big it is painful to site dow properly.

I think I need to invest in a bug zapper of some kind

2009-07-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

I've just ran a little experiment with my favorite Michael Jackson song - Ben.

I played the video (below) alongside the Marti Webb version (also below). Jacko's is slightly faster.

It's worth watching the following video too to.

When I bumped into a friend...

2009-06-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

...this morning, the end of our brief conversation went like this:-

Her: Which way are you going?
Me (pointing): that way, to the bank. And you?
Her: I'm going to meet the Duke of Edinburgh at the bus station.

Nice.

Snot funny

2009-06-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

I had a trip to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor today. He had a camera like the one in this picture that was shoved up my nose. 12 hours on and it still feels like the camera's stuck in there!

Iranians protesting abroad

2009-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Have I got news for you

2009-06-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Triple-decker bus!

2009-05-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

My blog entries are like buses: you wait ages for one and then three come along all at once (well, in the space of 24 hours anyway.)

At Football today Luke did his usual; he refused to take part in the matches unless he's allowed the yellow bib.

Aidan Davis, Flawless, Diversity

2009-05-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Check out these dance acts for Britain's Got Talent.

Aidan Davis
audition
Semi-Final

Diversity
audtion
Semi-Final

Flawless
audition
Semi-Final

There are some great singing acts in the final too (I think everyone in the world has heard of Susan Boyle) but I'd really like one of this lot to win.