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November 5th, 2009
12:38 am
i get home from our holiday to hear a man in the apartment block next door murdered his two kids (aged 2 & 4).
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October 9th, 2009
12:15 am
home from london and lying in bed with radiohead's in ranbows playing through the laptops tinny speakers.
I spent the evening at Fountain studios watching the xfactor rehearsals. Simon Cowell and the other judges were there although we weren't introduced. It was interesting seeing the show being put together and the contestants all seemed genuinely nice people working hard ahead of probably the biggest thing of their lives. I don't watch the show but I can appreciate the effort that goes into staging something like this. in between acts we were shown around and spent time in the green room and plied with alcohol and fancy food, it was fun.
we go to china on monday, i'm really excited. Work is incredibly busy and i'm shattered and stressed and in desperate need of a break, this can't come soon enough.
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September 16th, 2009
12:10 am
i went running again last night. Just another 3 miles but when i fell asleep around midnight i had a glorious 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Arrived at work this morning to find the canteen had been transformed into a seminar I've no idea what for. This meant meant no coffee ugh. I tried using the vending machine in the kitchen but couldn't understand the buttons and whatever was vended certainly wasn't coffee.
I left the office at 12 to head over to liverpool to the heart and chest hospital. I had a scheduled MRI scan to look at my heart to see if my aortic valve was functioning correctly. The procedure was routine I lay in the scanner for an hour while they piped in Natalie Imbuglia and the Bangles and every now then I was told to hold my breath. I'm not sure when the results come back but I can only hope things are well. They feel well at least.
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September 11th, 2009
12:59 am
tried my hand at cooking something new last night and made a jambalaya, it was good and cheap and easy to make. L came round and we watched tv and listened to music it was a good chilled out night.
Tonight I went out the the gym for the first tim in maybe 2 months I ran 3 miles and realized how out of shape i was as I staggered out into the cold air.
We saw district 9 at the weekend. It was really great, effects and story and setting. Much appreciated to see a sci-fi movie made from original source material instead of a comic/novel/tv adaption or sequel. I'd have preferred less gore and more plot and maybe less shakey cam but i think i'm just getting old. I can't watch 3d movies or imax without getting a headache and moaning.
This weekend is a wedding which should be ok although I'd probably rather be in blackpool for the fireworks/volleyball/beatles rockband events going on, mostly though I'd be happy to sleep.
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September 8th, 2009
10:16 pm
waiting in the grocery store queue today a lady turned and walked past me smelling of chlorine and cigarettes. I felt simultaneously 10 and 19, it caught me completely off guard and caused a flood of memory that left me dizzy.
i've just finished reading breakfast of champions, it's not as good as S5 but still a great read. I guess so many writers have borrowed or lampooned or expanded upon that sort of satirical and meta fictional style that I wasn't crazy about it.
Things with L are going well. We fly out to china in a little over a month and then move into a flat in the city centre on our return. I'm glad to be moving into the city. I like the atmosphere and the people and the bars and restaurants, it's more fun to me than being out in the suburbs
currently reading:
caught by the river
transmetropolitan
national geographic guide to hong kong
listening
la roux - la roux
cribs - ignore the ignorant
the bronx - mariachi el bronx
clutch - strange cousins from the west (reminds of something you'd hear on true blood)
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April 27th, 2009
08:28 pm
another day another bruised ankle... i can't seem to avoid injury and the inevitable limping back home for ice, ibuprofen and cold, cold beer. Hopefully at least this injury isn't so bad, a bit of bruising to my instep but nothing more. It shouldn't bother my climbing too much on wednesday which is good because I'm determined to finish a couple of 6a routes for the first time.
the weekend was relaxing. I met Laura in town at her fathers retirement party and then back to whalley range for cider and beers at the jam cafe before eventually back to mine and several hours of lego starwars. Saturday we lazed around until the skies cleared and drove out to Dunham Massey for a picnic around the gardens watching the deer, squirrels, and a psychotic swan that liked to hassle ducks in the pond.
Sunday we picked up her grandfather and went out for drinks in Cheadle Hulme, he's a very nice chap and it was good to spend some time together.
yeah yeah yeahs gig: ++good if a little short. Karen O was amazing as ever.
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April 1st, 2009
11:34 pm - clicky
had a busy day today with the launch of a new product. Things seemed to have worked ok which is always good, but it'll be interesting to see whats happens at the end of this month and whether we've managed to get everything right first time.
one of the group we took climbing last week messaged to see if anyone was free to climb tonight - I don't need much persuading so we agreed to meet up at MCC. I kept pushing myself because there was no way I was being out climbed by someone on their second visit but still failed to complete the 5+ routes, i seem to be stuck at 5. My arms are completely knackered now and I'm wondering what kind of exercise I can do to improve flexability and strength. Some people seem to rave about yoga, but its pretty expensive so I need to really think about it.
I got the boards of canada ep in the post this morning: trans canada highway. It's sublime but stupidly short, i really want to bash their heads together and tell them 3 albums and a couple of ep's to show for 11 years work is just not good enough.
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September 1st, 2008
12:32 am - late night
today has been recovering. i stood out on the balcony in the rain with a coffee and ate wet toast while the neighbours kids ran around screaming at each other.
Samina moved her stuff in, I put together the 2 bed frames and ordered new mattresses. Started reading the turn of the screw then watched half nelson.
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August 12th, 2008
10:47 pm
busy few days at work. i have some code that needs porting over to some new database servers, a lot of code actually that processes billions of records a month, so its quite hectic making sure it all goes to plan. G has become fairly distant of late. We think its because he should have left as our team leader and started his new role, but isn't allowed until we've all completed our projects. It would be nice to keep postponing the launch dates and make him stay indefinitely but i don't see it happening.
Nicola came over on friday, we had dinner and went out to Venue. My sister was there with her friends, we got more drunk while dancing around to the buzzcocks and led zep and then staggered home on the night bus. Saturday we sat slumped on the sofa watching re-runs of My So Called Life and feeling 13 all over again.
I don't know whats happening this weekend, if the weather stops being so abysmal i want to take a train out somewhere over towards leeds and just go hiking through the hills. I need out of manchester for a day
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July 30th, 2008
01:43 pm
back from spain where we split our time between nights in the capital city and slumming it on dusty campsites at the FIB music festival in Benicassim.
We flew into madrid and booked into a cheap hostel in the heart of Cheuca. We hung out in the bars/cafes till late, before heading back to the hostel for a few hours sleep ahead of the drive to coast.
The following morning we picked up a hire car and set off on the 5 hour drive across the mainland to the east coast. We made good time and found somewhere to leave the car. We walked past the closed festival gates to campFIB about a 5min walk away, then pitched our tent under some shade.
The campsite had toilets, cold shower block, a beer tent, info point, medical aid and lockers, but no drinkable water which was a pain as it meant a daily 2/3 milewalk into town just to stock up on water supplies.
As the festival wasn't open yet we wandered into the town. Benicassim reminded me of a spanish Cleveleys but with less to do. The resturants were overpriced selling mostly english food and watered down beer and we realised the majority of festival goers which I expected to be a mix of spanish, portuguese, french or italian was overwhelmingly made up of 18yr old british kids celebrating the end of their A levels.
Still once the fesitval opened on thursday any misconceptions/shortcomings were made up for by the music on offer. The first big band to open were Sigur Ros and they were spectacular.
I floated the rest of the night as we danced all night and then stumbled back to the campsite just as dawn was beginning to break over the ocean. The next few days were a mix of braving the 4mile trek to the beaches, collapsing under the shade of trees on the Benicassim high street or just hiding out of the sun in the bars/cafes until night fell and we could head back into the festival for more music.
( Read more... )
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July 13th, 2008
12:40 am
EW's top 100 films of 25 years, highlight as appropriate. * if you loved it
1. Pulp Fiction (1994) *
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy(2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)*
5. Toy Story (1995)*
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)*
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
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May 12th, 2008
12:42 am
in the vein of posting images, this is the small and crappy version of a great picture my grandfather took of my dad and i about 5/6am as we were setting up the fishing equipment. The bigger version has much prettier fog effects but I still like this shot a lot.
After 6 hours of sitting there - although i was mostly dozing whilst surreptitiously listening to my ipod - we left without a single bite, except my grandfather who caught 4 of the biggest carp I've ever seen, and in case you're wondering they were all put straight back in the pond
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April 14th, 2008
10:52 am
another wet weekend in manchester. originally planned to go to the lake district but the weather was atrocious so instead drove around the peak district. Made it to Buxton over the A537, more commonly known as the Cat & Fiddle. The road was so spectacular I made plans to come back on my bike as soon as the weather improved.
The route will probably go sometihng like travelling down from manchester via Alderly Edge to Macclesfield. Then over the cat and fiddle to Buxton and coming back in a circular route via Whaley Bridge
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December 7th, 2007
12:21 am - i'll take you all on
i don't know whats happening much these days, i feel a little lost at sea.
I had a call today about a job, software consultant, based in covent gardens london but 100% travel to client sites which are in the US and Singapore and presumably a lot of them in the uk. It sounded fun but I'm not in a position to move to london until late '08 and I don't think i'm the right man for the job so i said no to the interview. i'm regretting this decision already.
Last wednesday was Interpol at blackpool empress ballroom. I was skeptical abotu this concert, but approx 3mins into the gig once Daniel Kessler played the opening riff to Obstacle 1 it was like a giant surge inside, Joe, Phil and I stormed to the front and jumped around like madmen for the next hour. I left midway through, my asthma was bad and I needed air. There was a fight at the entrance to the Winter Gardens, 2 middle aged couples were attackign each other while security tried to throw them out, one of the women bit a securities hand drawing blood it was kind of surreal. I went back to my car, used my inhalor, changed my shirt which was frankly disgusting with sweat and went back and watched the rest of the gig from the balcony. It was a long drive home but so so worth going.
radiohead tickets go on sale tomorrow, im getting tickets oh yes.
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November 17th, 2007
03:22 am - anywhere, anyhow...
last weekend I went out riding my motorbike with Rebecca from work. We met up at the service station just before you reach Chester and took the A-roads through chester and down into Wales and past Wrexham. She took me through the winding roads to Llangollen and then up through Horsehoe Pass:
The weather was a little off but it was so much fun to ride through these twisty little welsh roads. We stopped off at Ponderosa, a well known biker cafe before heading off in circular route that took us back towards Chester. It was so much more fun riding out with someone else more so than I expected and it does kinda annoy me that I know so few people who own bikes.
Besides the biking I've got tickets to Smashing Pumpkins!! I really cannot wait to relive my angst and troubled teenage years and jump around like a loon to this band. Before that there was Iron & Wine who packed out the Academy and coming up is Interpol, Gogol Bordello and British Sea Power - who without a doubt are probably the most influential and most loved band in my life.
Reading wise, I'm currently completely hung up on Flannery O'Connor, these gothic southern stories are the best thing I've read since Joyce. Between her and Dennis Johnson and Nabakov I feel happy and back to a state of awe and learning and appreciation I haven't felt in years.
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October 14th, 2007
11:47 pm
These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). Bold what you have read, italicise that you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk* to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
( continued after the jump )
hmm, not nearly as many as I hoped to have read. Most of the half reads were secondary req. reading for courses and just didn't the time or desire to complete them, looking back now though I wish i had made the effort
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August 8th, 2007
11:34 am
back from the twin cities.
I missed my original flight out
Missed the I35-W bridge collapse by an hour
Saw the insanely large Mall of America which has rollercoasters inside it
Hung out at the art fair in uptown
saw some of the fringe festival
Pulled over and warned by a policeman for commiting 4 traffic violations in one go
Spent time in Red Wing
Went up North to see Duluth and Lake Superior
Kayaked down part of the brule river.
Drove 300 miles through rural wisconsin.
Lost all my luggage on the return flight.
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February 27th, 2007
02:56 pm
the days kind of blurring, work is slowly slowly improving, though not to the point of happiness/contented/worth staying for. The weekend was fun though. Meeting up with my sister and her friends on saturday and then again on sunday for the chinese new year festival which was frankly shoddy and not at all worth queuing for over an hour without caffine or sugar.
on that bbc radio quiz i won the following:
bloc party - a weekend in the city
cold war kids - robbers and cowards
Lady Sovereign - public warning
mika - life in cartoon motion
various - rough trade '06 compilation
various - rough trade 1976 compilation
The only one I really listn to is the Rough Trade compilation oh and Cold War Kids. Bloc Party's latest effort is a bit rubbish, Lady Sovereign is destined overseas, and Mika just annoys me.
Besides the free music I've mainly been on a diet of Rufus Wainwright and after discovering the long lost Nick Hornby mix cd in a dvd case: Bruce Springstein and Rod Stewart.
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February 14th, 2007
11:08 pm
ok... so who wins the coolest hat competition?
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December 22nd, 2006
09:36 am
we moved in on saturday. After picking the girl up from the airport and sleeping for a few hours i woke up and drove back to blackpool to collect more boxes.
The elevator in the new palce is broken - it works from every floor except ground so that meant lugging up all my stuff two flights of stairs blah. I have most of my belongings here. I'm missing all my books and computer but i have no phone or internet anyway till sometime in january.
The flat is ok, it has a really long corridor leading to the 3 rooms which wil be filled with prints or canvas art as and when we get round to it. The lounge/kitchen is all glass which is fun on a sunny day but with no curtains drapes feels a little exposed at night.
Saturday night we went to ikea - me for the first time. It was a little strange watching all the people defining their personal spaces by what brand of ikea lamp to hang on their ikea bookshelf opposite their ikea shelving. I think i actually hate ikea even if hating ikea is like hating mcdonalds.
Sunday was my parents visiting with more of my belongings and my father helping fix the boiler. That night I was itching to go out but instead stayed in watching tv and eating bad food.
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