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Reactions

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Getting suitcases out always causes a reaction with the cats. Unfortunately Jerry gets really sad and insular as this video will prove.

Brandy on the other hand doesn't twig as quickly but she will be causing Richard grief later when she realises I am not coming home tonight!

Of course I will miss them and I will miss my baby the most.

I am already counting down the minutes to my flight home on Friday ;)

Labels: Cats, Richard

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De mazzel, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Well not for good, only for a few days!

I doubt I will get any time to blog whilst away in the Netherlands for work nor do I plan to be online when I am in Germany for my birthday this weekend so this is my last post for while.

I may try to post the odd photo to Flickr but I don't promise anything as I am not sure I can connect my phone to my work PC! (And I don't want to do it over the air in case my tariff shoots up!).

Anyway, be safe, have a good week and I'll speak you all again soon!

P.S Don't forget to have a browse around my fab new geo tagged photo map on Flickr.

Labels: holiday, Work

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Excellent advice

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Labels: Apple, Humour

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Cold and frosty?

Saturday, January 27, 2007

No it's no actually; it's chilly but it's nothing like the frost and snow we have had this week. Anyway I digress...

I am making the most of my weekend at home as the forthcoming week will see me away from our abode for a week. Sadly not all of it will be on holiday or with my baby.

I am in Amsterdam from Tuesday as I have a conference to attend for work, I wouldn't mind but it's my birthday on Thursday and I'd rather spend it at home!

I'm back next Friday and then Richard and I are off to Berlin for a long weekend. I can't wait but I have to be honest I have not focused any (or rather little) attention on what I want to do when I get there. Mainly because work and the Amsterdam trip have taken up all my time, energy and focus.

In fact I had to purchase a digital camera for the conference today and bought an Olympus Miju. I have long since trusted these cameras and cannot fault their quality or functionality.

I captured this video with it this morning just to see how clear it was and I am very impressed.

All this of course means that I won't be around to blog or cast for a while. Of course listeners to my Trunk cast will know this already as I mentioned it in show 75.

I would blog from my European destinations but as I am not clear how much 3 would charge I don't think I'll bother. I am sure I can catch up on events when I return.

If I could it would give me the opportunity to use the fab new Geo Tag facility on Flickr ;)

Do you have a web cam? If so, pop over to the Trunk Cast page, follow the right hand menu about half way down and you'll see a photo box. This is a great little utility weher you can share your photo's/mug shots with me! Why not check it out and capture that moment!

Labels: Cats, holiday, Richard, Trunk Cast

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1824 days... ILMB xxXxx

Friday, January 26, 2007

Labels: Anniversary, Richard

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Got to go...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

A very good reason why we have to go to NYC soon!

Thanks for the head's up Ben!

Labels: Hunks

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Buddy Christ

I cannot believe that the Catholic Church has today said that it does not want the forthcoming changes in the adoption laws. They are against the changes as they do not think it is right that same sex couples should be able to adopt.

What is the matter with the church?

There are 40,000 children waiting to be adopted in the UK (a staggering figure) and the church wants to reduce the amount of people able to adopt them, care for them, love them and look after them?

I find this rather ironic that it comes from a faith that frowns upon contraception and encourages couples to have large families. Large families that cannot cope in this day in age as the cost of living is so high. Families that are prone to divorce and their children suffering as a consequence.

To be honest if I had to be adopted I don't think I would care who was looking after me as long as that person loved me. I thought we were supposed to be a tolerant open society - obviously not in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

I think these comments are as damaging to society as all the hate and fear that has surrounded and come from the Muslim communities in the past couple of years.

Why do people put so much faith in religion? What's the true purpose? Are these people so misguided that they have to take the words of black cloaked paedophiles and wife beaters instead of deciding on life choices for themselves?

Are these people incapable of making decisions?

I hope the Prime Minister does not give into the Catholic Church. He should remember that he serves the Queen, she who is head of the Church of England and not the Catholic faith. Maybe he and society should take note of these things.

These actions by the clergy are acts of fantasy - the kind of thing you would expect to see in Dogma. Maybe this is what they want, to slowly end humanity, to overcrowd the planet with large families, to crush everyone who doesn't conform and to wage war on those who don't believe.

Does this sound farcical? I don't think so. It's the same tact the Media have taken with other religions - why should the intentions of the Catholic Church be any different?

As for the looting of the stricken container ship off the Devon coast; will Pikey Northerners find any excuse to visit the south west and destroy it? News broke today that the looters are not local residents but gangs coming from hundreds of miles away! Fuck off home and let the authorities do their job.

Labels: News, Religion

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I don't believe...

Sunday, January 21, 2007

I don't believe in blogging for the sake of it but I have been rather quiet this weekend so I thought I'd better write something. Here goes:

Sunday, dry, sunny but still windy (no more gales)
Chilling out
Taking in the news but tired of hearing about Big Brother
Playing with the cats
May do some more painting
May go out/shopping
Taken some funky photos for 365 on Flickr!

How was that?

Labels: 365, Cats, Photography, Shopping, Trunk Cast, UK, Weather

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I love jesus...

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Thanks to Nathan Exposed for sharing this!

Labels: You Tube

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He's NOT gay?

Friday, January 19, 2007

Me thinks Robbie is coming out of the closet (again!)

At least he's releasing one of the excellently written Pet Shop Boys tracks. Mind you I think it's sound better without the fat twat singing on it!

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The Deal..

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

OK here's the deal... As part of my current Transformers obsession I decided to purchase some figures in order to make a profit. I am pleased to announce this has paid off.

Although as I suspected I have been sucked in by my childhood obsession.

I remember having Soundwave as a kid and loved playing with him as he was easy to transform, he was a great item and had lots of little bits and pieces such as the cassettes that also transformed. I don't ever remember what the use of the "stereo" mode was but hey who cares!

Anyway I purchased a Commemorative Edition Sound Wave on Ebay and it arrived via Asia a couple weeks ago. He was mint in the box.

I decided I'd put him back on Ebay and sell him. This didn't quite work as he didn't accumulate the bids as I had hoped. I then realised that the commemorative editions don't fetch anywhere as near as much as the original Transformers and to be honest I can see why.

He's a great recreation of my 80's toy but when compared to the originals I have he still looks and feels a little too modern.

Ebay has become flooded with Commemorative editions and to be honest I paid a good price for him and got an excellent item for very little. I cannot expect to make any more money on him so I did the unthinkable just now and took him out of the box!

He'll sit on the shelf with Ravage and Laser Beak, occupying space with my original Jazz and Optimus Prime. But you know what? I don't care if I have opened him up - I loved this character and seeing him stood there reminds me so much of my childhood.

If he was an original (which are going for stupid amounts of money), I wouldn't feel so sentimental. Still he brings me joy and he looks really menacing.

You know the other thing I could never work out as a kid (and still can't), is how a stereo is bigger than Optimus' truck and the robot therefore ends up bigger than Optimus! Surely this is an oversight from Hasbro ;)

Damn it's been a long week! And still it is only Wednesday - I have not stopped this week and am really looking forward to the weekend.

Of course we're vering towards the end of the month which means the work trip and our holiday. The latter I am really looking forward to but I get the feeling the work trip will be quite tough. Still it's all experience I guess!

Labels: Transformers, Work

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All Fall Down!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Isn't it amazing what your cats will get up to when they don't think they are being watched? I was trying to get some sleep when Jerry did this... (he's after the light switch pull in the bedroom).

P.S. You'll have to tilt your head, I did capture this whilst lying down!

Labels: Cats

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iTrunkGuy!

After updating my Nokia N73 to resemble the much hailed iPhone I decided to make a few adjustments to other things!

I did make some changes to the look and feel of OSX with Shapeshifter but as I have found it is very difficult to update such a brilliant operating system.

Afterwards I spent some time altering my Dell XP machine and am very happy with the results. Thanks to FlyaKiteOSX I now have a Windows machine that now completely resembles OS X. Of course there are some differences and the obvious better performance etc of OS X couldn't be replicated with a simple mod, but now I am much happier to spend time in front of my PC as I don't have to use the freakish iconography that Microsnot insist on installing into every program.

I did also notice an update to the fantastic CoComment tool and have now installed the Firefox Extension. For those of you who don't know, CoComment keeps track of all comments you make on blogs etc and allows you to view them all in one place - this is a great idea for keeping up with conversation threads.

I'm also currently filling my iPod thanks to Griffins iFill. It's not that I don't have enough music already, it's simply a great way to fill my iPod with things I may not have heard before. This really is a simple tool which accesses the iTunes radio stations and saves the songs broadcast on ones you select. What's extra special is that the song and artist information is saved and the jingles are cut out :) Another stellar product from Griffin.

Right it's a lovely day, I'm not wasting it in front of the computer. I'm off to do some painting and some weeding. I have a hell of a week ahead of me, I start a damn course tomorrow so I am going to make sure I make the most of my day.

Labels: Apple

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WTF?!

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Some people just have too much time on their hands don't they!

And what about this!

And for those of you who can't wait to get your hands on an iPhone, why not download an iPhone theme for your current mobile!

Labels: Apple, You Tube

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D O W N L O A D

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Trunk Cast 73 is now online.

Why not pop over to the Trunk Cast page and take a listen!

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And all that Jazz

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

And so the family grows...

This is Jazz, another of the original Transformers I had when I was a kid. Again considering he's 25 years old he is in excellent condition. Unlike Optimus he's complete too... I've managed to nab a great edition with all the parts, the extras and instructions. A very good find.

Of course Transformers cannot compare to the technology that we have these days and I am waiting patiently for the latest announcements from Steve Jobs at the MacWorld Expo.

Sure there will be changes to the iPod etc and of course there will be iTV. I just wonder what else they will come up with. There is plenty of speculation but I am not going to bother, I am just interested to see what is produced.

I think people get more excited about the announcement of things from Apple as their products, look good and they know how to market. The best thing is that there is seldom any wait. I know for sure the Apple Store is already offline - ready to come online with the new goods.

Update Of course after all the speculation and the waiting (and just after I get myself a Nokia N73); Steve Jobs announces the iPhone.

At first I didn't like the look of it but considering what it does, how it does it and the fact it does it by running OSX is very very tempting and simply amazing.

Another one in the eye for Gatesy and his band of nerdy followers.

Let's hope it's not going to be too costly!
Oh I have to say a Big Thank You to the people over at 3 - yes 3 the mobile phone network! They featured my Optimus Prime photos, posts and Trunk Cast in their X Series blog. Thanks for the exposure guys!

Strays of the World from the album "Crystal Ball" by Prince

Labels: Apple, Transformers, Trunk Cast

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Like a kid...

Monday, January 08, 2007

...in a vintage toy shop!

If you listened to Trunk Cast 72 you will know what this is all about...

Anyway my first generation (i.e. original) Optimus Prime arrived today and he's in great condition.

Apart from a few missing parts he's in great shape, comes with his trailer and the box :)

I feel like an eight year old all over again :)

If any of you happen to have his fists, missiles or guns I'd be happy to take them off you :)

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Quiet weekend

Sunday, January 07, 2007

After all the chaos of Christmas, New Year and then having to go back to work it's nice to be able to have a quiet weekend.

We even managed to negate the shopping from the list of activities yesterday as we had the groceries delivered!

Last night Richard and I had a lovely meal in a new restaurant on the High Street. Richard was especially happy as the venue was playing Michael Buble.

The weather has been appalling though - January is supposed to be cold and frosty but it''s still quite mild and very wet. I hope we manage to get some winter before Spring kicks in (if it kicks in!).

I think I have managed to watch all of my Christmas DVDs now and they were a very random bunch. You may recall me talking about them in old posts and Trunk Casts. I did manage to sit through the live DVD of the Mighty Boosh actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not sure we would have enjoyed being in the audience but it was good to watch on DVD.

Family Guy season 5 was another set I had for Christmas and it's as funny as ever. Although once again I feel Seth McFarlane ran out of jokes by the time he got to the last two episodes as they were terrible. This seems to be standard practice for FG series; I think Fox must commission too many episodes.

As you may have noticed I have had a bit of a tidy up around here. For starters there is a new graphic on the left. I am still not 100% sure I like it but I thought it was time for a bit of spring cleaning! I don't feel the need to put Trunk Guys through a major redesign this year as I really like the current format (and have received such good feedback about it). I've also been quite ruthless with my blog roll. There were a lot of blogs I no longer visit (and as I notice I had disappeared from their rolls they no longer visit me), so these were removed. As were anyone who put music and video on auto play on their sites.

My Space and You Tube have created this culture of people cramming any number of audio and video items on their pages and I find it distracting. I like to tab open a multiple number of sites. Then read through them as I am listening to iTunes. I cannot stand it when another song starts on a tab somewhere else; I have to stop my music then whizz through the tabs to find the offending site. With this in mind, any site guilty of this has since been removed.

I've also put the Blogger Member access back onto my comments. I thought it would be OK to allow anyone to enter comments but following the anonymous comment that accompanies my Taxing Problem post I thought it wise to change the method. Why? Because if people want to make such comments, they should have the courage of their convictions and own up to who they are. To be anonymous is cowardly, shallow and pathetic.

Right, I'm off for a long hot soak in the bath.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Labels: Family Guy, Mighty Boosh, Politics, Trunk Cast, Weather

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I ain't got...

Friday, January 05, 2007

I ain't got the blues no more. I said.

Labels: Mighty Boosh, Music, You Tube

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NO C!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

I will admit that we did not watch all of the last series of The OC. Even Marisa's death didn't signal any alarm bells.

But even so I am really shocked to have heard that Fox have cancelled the show. How could something that hit the TV channels so vigorously manage to hit the skids so quickly?

My dilemma now is whether it's worth watching the final series (when we finally get in the the UK); just to see the ending (after all that's the only reason we watched the final series of Friends!).

California from the album "The Guest " by Phantom Planet

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A taxing problem

What the hell is going on in this country?

We pay our taxes and yet nothing seems to work.

The Armed Forces are in a terrible state, the NHS has no money, the police service is in chaos, immigration offices are a joke, fire crews are constantly striking and councils up and down the country seem unable to keep their heads above water.

What the fuck are the government doing with all the money they get from taxes?

I think it's time the British people stood up for themselves and ousted this sorry government.

Let's hope the rumoured departure of Tony bLIAR later this year means the end of this terrible government and a shift to a better country in the future.

Labels: Politics, UK

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Their Life

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The BBC decided to make an anniversary edition of This Life ten years after the original programmes finished. In an attempt to help us all learn what happened next. (I smell a DVD box set!)

Anyway it was actually really great to see all those wonderful characters back on screen - although I do still hate Egg! Anna was as fiery as ever, you still felt sorry for Milly, Warren still needs a kick up the ass and Miles, well what can you say about Miles...

This Life came around at the right time for me - I was just leaving home, getting in touch with my sexuality etc and to see such lively, vibrant and real characters on screen was a revelation. Nothing had ever been produced or written in such a fashion and nor do I feel that anything has managed to match it since.

It's good to see that even ten years on not much has changed. I think it's very true to life that of all the members who were training to become lawyers, only one of them stuck to it. How many of us train to do one thing and end up doing something else?

Of course a number of the actors (especially Jack Davenport), haven't really been off our screens since This Life ended but I wonder what the others have been up to during the decade that has passed.

It was top notch drama from the BBC though. I just wish there was more programmes on TV like this (and less of the This Life pretenders that have crept into it's place).

Labels: TV

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Placid Monday

Monday, January 01, 2007

The New Year has started on a Monday and that to me is a good thing. Why? Well it's one less Monday to work isn't it!

I am not going to give any words of wisdom or let you know about my New Years Resolutions because I never make any. If I resolve to do anything then I do it on the 1st February which is my birthday.

I doubt there will be much time to resolve anything this year (or rather to make any resolutions) as I will be away for my birthday and this year it won't be New York :( Although oddly it's kind of connected as I'll be in Amsterdam (those of you who know your American history will understand what I am on about!).

My rule of not working on my birthday will be broken this year as I fly out to Amsterdam on the 31st January and return on the 2nd. I'll be there for a conference which should be interesting. I could however think of better ways to spend my birthday!

Richard and I have planned a break but it now meets the Amsterdam trip. This means I will be home from Holland on the Friday evening and fly out to Berlin on the Saturday morning! I hope I am awake enough to enjoy the break!

Still that's a good 30 days away and there's a whole new month ahead - I just hope it all runs smoothly.

2006 was truly a fantastic year for us and at this point last year neither of us knew what the year held, I wonder what will bestow us this year. Hopefully it'll all be good.

If you have a web cam pop by the Trunk Cast page and press the "Capture your photo" button in the right menu. This is a great little applet that lets you share your photos with me - why not take a snap shot so I can see who is browsing around the site... Go on, you know you want to.

Happy New Year!

Labels: Happy New Year, holiday

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