Blockbuster in the past...

Historic �Blockbuster� Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 - Guess where the UK came?

UK'S EUROVISION RECORD
2008 - Andy Abraham, 25th place
2007 - Scooch, 22nd
2006 - Daz Sampson, 19th
2005 - Javine, 22nd
2004 - James Fox, 16th
2003 - Jemini, 26th


Below is the best we have done in Eurovision since 2003 - I think we are doomed...

Seeing Orange!

I got a call from my ex-partner whose PC had decided to stop working in the middle of a conversation she was having. You can imagine she was not best pleased. I worked through the usual list of support stuff with her over the phone, eventually concluding that she was not actually connected. A look at the Orange website suggested (well positively screamed) that all was well. I wandered over to her place and spent an unhappy four hours attempting to sort out the most puzzling of problems. Connections were intermittent and up and down faster than the underwear of a lady of negotiable affection!

Eventually my ex-partner called their technical people when around six I admitted defeat and when calling their support number (at national rate!) what did we find? They were experiencing problems with people not being able to connect to the internet.

I was pretty pissed off, having wasted hours trying to fix this machine, the problem was the idiots at Orange had not bothered to update their 'everything is wonderful' status page and therefore encouraged people to call their support service to listen to a recorded message which said the opposite. If she had called in a repair person he would have charged her anything up to a couple of hundred quid for that, since there was every reason to believe that the issue was with the rig!

"The future is Orange" I bloody well hope not!

We were never being boring?

Most of the time, boring people are either a) unnoticeable or b) inoffensive. Or c) newspaper columnists. In any case, they're usually easy to avoid. It's only when you're stuck in close proximity to them for an extended period that they truly cross the line from dreary to irksome.

Taxis are a classic hot spot, as are long-haul flights. In the misery stakes, few things beat being stranded beside a determined-but-dull conversationalist on a 10-hour transatlantic crossing. Unless you find some polite way of shutting them up early on, you'll be teetering on the verge of assault later.

The sensible method is to politely say, "Sorry, I'm a bit tired - do you mind if I just have a nap?" the minute they start talking, at the very start of the journey.But that might seem snooty. Plus it's vanilla and dull.

Instead, the best and most entertaining option is one I read about in a Penn & Teller book several years ago. It goes like this. Turn to your unwanted companion at the first opportunity, and explain to them that you have a condition which makes you sleep with your eyes open. It's harmless, you say, but it can be quite creepy - so you're taking the opportunity to warn them in advance so they don't freak out later. Then you sit back in your chair and silently wait a while. After about 10 minutes, slowly loll your head sideways toward them, keeping your eyes wide open the whole time, and stay there, staring at the side of their face, for as long as possible. They'll be far too weirded out to utter a word.

Brilliant.Probably doesn't work on cab drivers though, unless perhaps you're sitting in the front passenger seat. And even then it might make them crash.Worth trying though.I'll let you know.

Fruitcakes!

Music on demand

This Morgane is rather a good singer who is attempting to gain publicity for her and her band through networks like Face Book and Myspace and to whom I thought I would offer a tiny helping hand. If you are interested in a little new music why not click on the link, offer a valid email address and give her and her people a spin. If any spam comes may way as a result of this I will let readers know...

A note on Old Roar Gill

On my way back from the supermarket I took the opportunity to drop into Alexandra Park and grabbed the pictures you see here. On a sunny day, the park looks wonderful and I don't think the images you see here do it justice.

I am planning to pay a visit to 'Old Roar Gill', which is at the Northern End of the park. Its a wonderful looking part of the world and rather beautiful to wander through on a bright day when the Gill is dry. Its essentially a gully that runs south wards and finishes in the park. Inside the gill is something like a jungle with high stone walls and plant life which you just don't see elsewhere in the park. The only shame of it is that its quite small probably no more than half a mile or so.

More from the Gallery

Charis in a Bournemouth night club





















Charis and her production team. No idea why they decided to pose in a football stadium.




















Simba the kitten who briefly was the sixth member of Charis' house. It eventually dawned on her room mate that having a small animal in the house when it was empty most of the day was probably not a good thing.

Trojan hoarse.

I could be a lawyer with stratagems and muses
I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises
I could be a writer with a growing reputation
I could be the ticket-man at Fulham Broadway station
What a waste!
_______________________________________________

Saw this on Face Book and did some slight editing to make it less American - very funny!

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules
from the male side.
These are our rules!

Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put
it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us
complaining about you leaving it down.

Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of
it that way.
++
Crying is blackmail.
++
Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints
do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
++
Yes, and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
++
Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it.
That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
++
A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
++
Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
++
If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect
us to act like soap opera guys.
++
If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
++
If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the
ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
++
You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it
done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
++
Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say
during commercials.
++
Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.
++
ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach,
for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have
no idea what mauve is.
++
If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
++
If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act
like nothing is wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth
the hassle.
++
If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an
answer you don't want to hear.
++
When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine.
Really.
++
Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared
to discuss such topics as football, football managers and the ability of footballers to play football well.
++
You have enough clothes.
++
You have too many shoes.
++
I am in shape. Round is a shape.
++
Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the
couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind that, it's like
camping.
______________________________________________________

Worrying virus news. I am always amazed by the way people will either go into melt down about a trojan or simply fail to understand its dangers to them and their friends. Article in the Guardian

Planet of the Boris

Could not resist this one. I am still stunned at the election results, although on reflection perhaps I should not have been. If you look at how Livingstone was elected then bringing in the Tories answer to Jordan is perhaps no great surprise.

His first action as Mayor was to ban alcohol on tube trains, although I would not like to be the poor sod of a railway staff person who tried to tell some eighteen stone Neanderthal that he cannot bring is can of Rocket Fuel Strength lager into the station and indeed exactly how that gets policed in a train. A least a cigarette you can smell. Swigging vodka from a water bottle is entirely possible or does the new Mayor intend to blame liquid entirely, I wonder?

Jack in Green video - the Old Town

Jack in the Green on Monday

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Jack in the Green on Sunday

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Disappointing second day of Jack in the Green: Only one set of Morris dancers on the pier, I hung around for a while before going for a walk with Debbie. Came back a couple of hours later but nothing much seemed to have happened.

Jack in the Green - origins

May 1st has long been an important part of the annual Calendar. It is the start of summer in these latitudes and as such has always been a day for celebration: the Celts celebrated May Day as Beltane; The Romans dedicated the day to the Goddess Flora and would go to the woods to cut a tree and decorate it with ribbons and flowers, this is the origin of the May Pole. In the 16th and 17th centuries in England people would make garlands of flowers and leaves for the May Day celebration, they became increasingly elaborate. Works Guilds would try to outdo each other, in the late 18th century this became a matter for competition, milkmaids in London carried garlands on their heads with silver objects on them, but the crown had to go to the chimney sweeps. Their garland was so big it covered the entire man. It became known as Jack in the Green.

In Hastings there were at least two groups who paraded a Jack in the Green until about 1889. By the turn of the century the custom was seen no more. The reasons were twofold: the Act which stopped boys climbing chimneys had been passed and these had been the main performers; secondly the Victorians had a different attitude to such customs, the prettification of customs took place, no more the giant maypoles with drunken and promiscuous behaviour, replaced by small poles imported from Germany with happy skipping children around them. The Lord and Lady of the May with their practical joking were replaced by a pretty May Queen. Certainly there was no place for the drunken noisy Jack in the Green.

The custom was revived in Hastings by Mad Jacks Morris Dancers in 1983. We do not say we are following exactly what happened, this is a custom for now, not a fossil. Jack is returned, he is not the property of a small group of dancers, but belongs to us all. Long may he dance!

Further information about the Jack in the Green in Hastings can be obtained by reading the excellent booklet "The Hastings Jack in the Green" written by Keith Leech (ISBN 0 9514498 0 X). Keith, a long time member of Mad Jacks Morris was instrumental in reviving the tradition in Hastings and is a usually seen dressed as a "bogie" or green man, one of Jacks' attendants, during the procession on the May Bank Holiday. Abstract from http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/link.html

Jack in the Green on Saturday

Morris Dancing around the Town. Starting at Winkle Island on the Bourne, Morris Dancers will be performed far and wide, including Jack in the Green innovators, 'Mad Jacks Morris' and 'Hannah's Cat.'