Big Brother or Top Gear?

There's no debate here
it's what's known as a
no brainer
Top Gear will be on at 8

I guess I'll just have to find
somewhere else to watch
Big Brother then

Lots of sew and sews

Spent the afternoon at the
Stitch and Creative Craft Show
at G-Mex
or Manchester Central as they're calling it now
I've never seen so many
women
in one place at the same time
all pushing to get through the crowds

I was very much in the minority
as a man
and was worried sick that they'd
start pulling at my cheek
saying what a cute little thing I was

there was a sewing machine there
for four and a half thousand pounds
and they talk about us blokes having
expensive hobbies
it was fully automatic so that you could
sew without actually doing anything
"it leaves your hands free to knit"
said the sales woman

Will Young

Just back from seeing Will Young
in The Vortex by Noel Coward
at the Royal Exchange
considering it's his first play
he was very good - very well cast
not sure if I enjoyed the play
it's the story of a mother and son
both addicted
her with youth
and he with something that
becomes apparent as the play develops
the second act seemed to finish rather quickly
so much so that one the way home we wondered
if there was an act three taking place while we
were scraping ice off the car

After the gales...

comes the snow
we actually had a
thunder storm in the middle
of the snow
and now two to three inches of
snow has fallen in under two hours
cars are having to be pushed up
the high street
and even the
snow angels are out

Dental bliss

I have a new toothbrush
that apparently massages
your teeth and surrounding
areas
so after five minutes hard brushing
I have the most relaxed gums
on the planet

New old books

Found a bounty of old books today
Elementary Physiography by Alex Morgan
My Lady Nicotine by JM Barry
The British Pharmacopoeia
Cruise of the Conrad by Allan Villiers
Psalms and Hymns (1891)
The Iphigenia in Tauruis
Gardening Encyclopaedia by William H Steer
Mechanical World Year Book 1953

All with a story to tell
some of which I've
started already

Near death and total chaos

I thought I was going to choke to death
on a tiny piece of cheese right in the
middle of a radio interview
people just stood around laughing
still
it could have been worse
I could have been outside
being battered by the wind
or stuck in traffic for hours
or being stranded
as all the trains were cancelled
as luck would have it
I was in the car
as I was hosting a blogging meeting
that didn't quite go to plan
as people couldn't make it as they
were being battered by the wind
or were stuck in traffic
or their trains were cancelled

Exhibitionist

Staff from Urbis came round tonight
I'm going to be part of their next
exhibition
can't say too much just yet
other than it's due to open around
February 14th

Why having children can be a very expensive thing

She sends a text to say she's having
tea with Rachel and will be home late
cost - £0.00

We decide to stay in town and
grab a bite to eat
cost - £37.00

We decide to go into Waterstones
and buy some books
cost - £31.00

This is coming out of
her allowance

Another great find

Today's trip out took us to
Castleton in Derbyshire where
we found Hawkridge book shop
and a book about Chester Cathedral
that contained a letter from the
photographer to someone he knew
the book was a birthday gift

all this book excitement
has triggered off another blog
Books With Stories
enjoy

A great find

While looking through some old
books at Scarthin Books in Cromford
I chanced upon a Bible dated 1886
inside, attached to two pages,
is part of a script for Jane Eyre

this has started a quest to see if
my new book is actually a TV star
and I'm in contact with Jane Eyre
fans who are going through copies
of the TV shows to see if it matches up

one pound sixty hasn't bought me
this much excitement in years

So far we've ruled out the 1973
and 2006 productions

more to follow

Kylie in Manchester

Was at the Kylie concert
in Manchester last night
we had side view tickets
right next to the stage
which mean that we got two shows
the one that everyone saw
plus an uninterrupted
of everything backstage
including dancer's
costume changes
and some guy tuning guitars
all night

Morning rant

Why does it cost more to have
crap service?
The train fares went up and now we get
the most obnoxious ticket collector ever
who lectures people for not paying with
cash
the train company were delighted
to offer us all chip and pin
investing in new tickets machines
yesterday some poor bloke was told that
it was not hard to 'always carry a fiver'
with him
the ticket man had been as
equally rude to passengers two days earlier
when someone tried to pay with small change

and just don't get me started on
the Royal Mail

Elias Quartet

I was entertained
and moved by
the Elias Quartet
playing
Leos Janácek String Quartet No 1
second movement
at the RNCM
wonderful Chamber Music
that brought some around me
to tears

Er, hello?

I totally forgot where I was today
all I had to read out was
"We're live at the Museum of
Science and Industry"
what I said was
"We're live at the War Museum"

Where?

Dark days

Yesterday seemed to be the
darkest day of the winter
they're still threatening storms
but I plan on looking forward to
the first signs of the
snowdrops in the garden
that will
lighten the path to spring

He's finished now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6239745.stm

Daddy Long Legs

When I was young I had
chickenpox
and had to stay at home
I was so bored
but I did listen to the serialisation
of Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
on the radio
which cheered me up
last week I found an old copy in
Scrivener's Bookshop in Buxton
this morning I woke early and finished it
in bed
how the memories flooded back
and I made an effort not
to scratch any spots

Saturday at last

Even thought it was only
four days
that seemed like a very long
working week
getting back into the swing of
things now
time to chill out, relax
and spend some time
polishing my award

Winner

I've actually won something
no not £50,000 in the Reader's Digest draw
(subject to no one else winning)
but I have won a BoB Award
see the badge on the right
permission to be
smug
for the rest of the day/week/year

Celeb Big Bro

I think the crowd summed it up
really
who are you
who are you
who are you
at least I won't be losing any
writing time for the next
four weeks
thank you Channel 4

A final Christmas present

Presented my train fare this morning
to the ticket man
only to be told that it was 80p short
of the revised cost of not using the car

which may also cost more
eventually
so what's the message we're getting here?

perhaps we should all stay at home
and run up massive heating and lighting
bills

Dog gone New Year

It's for the best
we've had our hound re-homed
as circumstances meant that
we couldn't be with him all day
like we used to
he's got a young vet for a master now
so he really has come up trumps
which is something we won't miss