Lovely retro USB MIX TAPE

Nice idea... (via The Reg: Geeky gifts for Valentine's Day)



See: Suck UK

Charlie's Broken Arm...: New Pots for Old

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Charlie's new cast"][/caption]

Charlie had his “above the elbow” cast removed today - however the doctor says he must have a new one (below elbow) for two more weeks... (then no contact sports for 4 more weeks).

He chose a very nice blue colour this time and he's being very brave :-)

First fondleslab found in 1970s kids TV sci-fi gem • reghardware

"...it's turtles all the way down!"

Today's Dilbert referenced the quote: "it's turtles all the way down!" which I couldn't remember the origin of.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="Dilbert Feb 7th 2011"][/caption]

Wikipedia says:

The most widely known version appears in Stephen Hawking's 1988 book A Brief History of Time, which starts:

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever", said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"^[1]

The origins of the turtle story are uncertain.

The quote makes me smile, the story enhances it.

Police do normal police stuff... feel the need to call it "Operation Tornado"

Why is this considered a "special operation"?

BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation

Police on Teesside are planning to carry out more than 40 operations over the coming week as part of efforts to target known criminals.

Officers from Cleveland Police will focus on domestic violence, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and shop crime during Operation Tornado.

via BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation.

I thought that was why we had police. What are they doing when not on a "special operation"?

Lovely nostalgic article on 70s sports games...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="322" caption="Subbuteo"][/caption]

Really enjoyed this

The day video almost killed the Subbuteo star

The arrival of video games in the 1970s saw the slow demise of table football, cricket and rugby and with it the end of an era when sportsmen looked like your uncle Len

Brings back some memories of some fine Subbuteo matches.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Rinus Isreal"][/caption]

Also like the mention of Panini stickers... I found (here) this one that the article mentions - those new fangled Match Attax cards just can't compete.

Charlie's Broken Arm.

Charlie has broken his arm (Ulna) in an accident at a "soft play" centre (we know.. soft play... irony etc.) when one of his friends landed on him during another friend's birthday party.

He's been very brave.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="67" caption="Charlie's Green Cast"][/caption]

We spent a few hours on Thursday evening at A&E (Darlington Memorial Hospital) where they examined, X-ray'd and put a temporary cast on him. He has a "green stick fracture" of his forearm. This morning we went back to the hospital and Charlie now has an "above the elbow" cast in a fetching green colour which he'll wear it for 3 weeks.

All the staff at the hospital were friendly and efficient and we were well looked after.

Meanwhile... who's my goalkeeper for Sunday's match?!

Photo Set here

Life after fame: Lloyd Cole on what your hotel room tells you about your pop career - Features, Music - The Independent

via independent.co.uk

Enjoyed this article written by Lloyd Cole, spans his career - measured by the quality of the hotel room he is booked into. From big-label excess to small time solo act.

Band Name Quiz (from 2002)

This is a (silly) cryptic quiz we (EJC music club dudes) put together one evening... it greatly amused us at the time... wonder if it still does!

1. able
   ? can


2. mega-voice
   ? ultravox


3. swedish palindrome
   ? abba


4. turkey relish
   ? cranberries


5. st trinians
   ? girlschool


6. polite snog
   ? kiss


7. not hate
   ? love


8. grunge heaven
   ? nirvana


9. portacabbage
   ? prefab sprout


10. bees arse
    ? sting


11. fuzz/filth/stench/pigs/coppers/feds/rozzers
    ? the police


12. confectionary
    ? the sweet


13. not no
    ? yes


14. samantha, darren & tabatha, under a spell
    ? b*witched


15. skeletal 007 boss
    ? boney m


16. easy as 1-2-3...
    ? abc


17. entrance and exit
    ? the doors


18. definite article, definitely
    ? the the


19. same as it ever was
    ? status quo


20. west of asia
    ? europe


21. John Logi Baird's big idea
    ? television


22. wailing ghost in native america
    ? siouxsie & the banshees


23. barbarella barbarella
    ? duran duran


24. honeycomb buzz
    ? voice of the beehive


25. kebab before autumn
    ? donna summer


26. electric gender bender
    ? ac/dc


27. big apple mannequins
    ? new york dolls


28. bland & blonde, neither IQ or ECU
    ? dollar


29. tiny boat races
    ? small faces


30. aa bottom
    ? zz top


31. bowie's young dudes
    ? mott the hoople


32. lame brains
    ? simple minds


33. vietnamese capital sucks (NOT!)
    ? hanoi rocks


34. dark carrions
    ? black crowes


35. mother & son immaculately linked
    ? jesus & mary chain


36. chemical nocturnal sprinters
    ? dexys midnight runners


37. chillier cocktail
    ? kula shaker


38. conversing crania
    ? talking heads


39. citrus crush
    ? orange juice


40. thankfully deceased
    ? grateful dead


41. depressed pearlmakers sect
    ? blue oyster cult


42. handmade in deutchland
    ? kraftwerk


43. saline duct secretion goes bang
    ? teardrop explodes


44. overpopulated dwelling
    ? crowded house


45. U 4 E Ah
    ? xtc


46. east of europe
    ? asia


47. pretentious french face
    ? visage


48. incomplete elements
    ? earth wind and fire


49. petrified flowers
    ? stone roses


50. 3 footed feathered friends
    ? the yardbirds


51. pleasure fraction
    ? joy division


52. from the ame
    ? de le soul


53. oyster gridlock
    ? pearl jam


54. I own this messy massacre of love?
    ? my bloody valentine


55. airborne beatle in a flap
    ? wings


56. profound indigo
    ? deep purple


57. johan-sebastian-dude ike&tina turbo !!!!!!!
    ? bachman turner overdrive


58. knock knock
    ? the who


59. curly, larry & mo
    ? the stooges


60. lemon sorcery symphonia
    ? yellow magic orchestra


61. satans little helpers
    ? the damned


62. next noise for England's capital
    ? future sound of london


63. metal maggie
    ? iron maiden


64. heavy metal airship
    ? led zeppelin


65. scarlet monarch
    ? king crimson


66. perverted nun
    ? twisted sister


67. division of naked apes
    ? human league


68. rugs on drugs
    ? inspiral carpets


69. heavyweight oxymoron male
    ? fatboy slim


70. ma, pa & kids, keeping the ships from the rocks
    ? lighthouse family


71. pitter patter of...
    ? little feat


72. comfortable prison
    ? soft cell


73. gothic remedy
    ? the cure


74. sanfrancisco rolls-royces
    ? bay city rollers


75. soupey scottish valley
    ? glen campbell


76. le sid vicious
    ? daft punk


77. satsuma soporific state
    ? tangerine dream


78. glad start to the working week
    ? happy mondays


79. ocular dream state
    ? rem


80. symphonic movement after dusk
    ? orchestral manouvres in the dark


81. land of the rising sun
    ? japan


82. not from these shores
    ? foreigner


83. 3 of these to heaven
    ? steps


84. always rises to the top
    ? cream


85. buttoned up jumpers
    ? the cardigans


86. nixon/carter/clinton/reagan/bush
    ? presidents of the USA


87. annually, with jelly, icecream & cake
    ? birthday party


88. first yell
    ? primal scream

This is a (silly) quiz we (EJC music club dudes) put together one evening... it greatly amused us at the time... wonder if it still does!

Amazing (planned) Chinese bus reminds me of...

This amazing public transport plan from China (found via slashdot)

China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/02/china-to-build-ginormous-buses-that-cars-can-drive-under-video/

Reminds me of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro.

West Ham 'Fans delighted with new kit' shocker

Looks like West Ham have got a decent reto design for the new season's away kit. Lovely photo ad with players eating at a "traditional greasy spoon" cafe (spot the sauce bottles) looking back to the days of Bonzo, Lamps, Trev and Devo and the traditional pre-match fry-up (load them carbs!).

Looking forward to the new home kit too:

The new home shirt - which will also feature a welcome return to a more traditional design - is to be revealed later this month.

via Knees up Mother Brown - West Ham United FC Online: News.

Bowie STATIONTOSTATION SPECIAL AND DELUXE EDITION BOXES DUE IN SEPTEMBER

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="480" caption="STATIONTOSTATION Deluxe Box...mmmmmmm"][/caption]

I mostly buy music as mp3s these days... although I still buy a few CDs (especially where the CD is cheaper/the-same-price as a download). However this would be tempting.. even though I already have most of (nearly all) the music on multiple formats. I remember buying the "Live Nassau Coliseum" on a bootleg cassette at the Portobello Road market... and then some time later finding it as a vinyl bootleg - you can't replicate that excitement of discovery via a torrent search.
I expect my/our generation (mid forties now) must be the last who will likely still lust after "owning the object".

We first mentioned this one almost a year ago (08.11.2009 NEWS: STATION TO STATION FOUR DISC SET DUE NEXT YEAR) and it is with much pleasure that we are now able to exclusively announce the release of EMI's 3-CD Special Edition and 5-CD, DVD and heavyweight vinyl Deluxe Edition of David Bowie's massively influential 1976 album, Station To Station ...along with the much bootlegged fan favourite: Live Nassau Coliseum

From: davidbowie.com/news

Photos for Dennis' Birthday

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Family Group at Dennis' 70th"][/caption]

Uncle Dennis is soon to be 80.. can it really be 10 years ago since we got together to celebrate his 70th?

Here's some photos from that event 10 years ago plus some other old family ones which were dusted off on that occasion.

Photo set - click HERE

Photos/Videos of Day out with Wendy, Richard & Girls & Dogs & Horses.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Horsing around"][/caption]

Charlie and I had a great day out with (sister) Wendy and family over in Cumbria yesterday. Charlie had an excellent horse riding lesson with Wendy and progressed to enjoying "rising trot" under her tuition.

Photo Set here

There's also some Videos here

Young Premier League Footballers (try to) do some good

This is a very encouraging story:

Stoke's Dave Kitson leads call for non-league youth investment

West Ham's Jack Collison and Aston Villa's Curtis Davies have joined the striker in asking for money for grassroots football

From the Guardian

Our nearest pro club Darlington (beware - awful flash encumbered website!) were just relegated from League 2. They have recently announced new Advanced Development Centres in partnership with a non-profit company Elite Advanced Development - website for the Darlington one here.

I made some inquiries about this as they were inviting kids to attend trials - here's a news item from our footy club website.

To the crucial question  "who is funding the professional football club's Advanced Development Centres " the answer is - the kids themselves - or of course rather their parents/families via weekly fees and having to buy the required kit.

I think given the amount of money in professional football - it's outrageous that a pro-club does not have the resources to run these types of academies. Darlington FC's financial problems are well known (recently emerging from administration). However many other lower league clubs are following the same route - with players/parents effectively funding the academies.

I sympathise with the plight of the clubs - for them it may well be this method or no academies - but I refuse to join in with it.

Well done to Kitson, Collison & Davies for taking a stand and highlighting the issue.

Stoke's Dave Kitson leads call for non-league youth investment

West Ham's Jack Collison and Aston Villa's Curtis Davies have joined the striker in asking for money for grassroots football

Momus: Bubble Music - following on that Heaven 17 80s revisit...

Enjoyed this.... hadn't come across Momus before... know nothing about all his other stuff (should I?). This definitely sounds like an early 80s Japan/Sakamoto/YMO kinda thing (includes samples of "Bamboo Music") -  Fun!

Momus: Bubble Music

via YouTube - Momus: Bubble Music.

Windows 3.0 Anniversary - but you can't beat the Windows 386 (2.1) video

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Win 3.0"][/caption]

Nice Reg article about the 20th anniversary of the launch of Windows 3.0 and it's impact on computing and the industry (and notes the importance of Solitaire!).

Us Unix Workstation people sneared at the time of course - and (as linux users) still do ;-)

Any Windows anniversary is an excuse to watch this stunning promo-video for an earlier 386/2.1 version. If you've never seen this you MUST watch (if you don't have time for it all - jump to around 7 mins) . What were they thinking!?

Heaven 17

I enjoyed the recent BBC2 documentary on Heaven 17 which I caught up with last night.

Heaven 17: The Story of Penthouse and Pavement

They came across as likeable still down to earth guys.... and the insight into their Sheffield roots was nice (the scenes with Gregory's parents).

I loved Penthouse and Pavement at the time... especially this 12" single of 'Play to Win' - which is in a box in our loft and overdue a dusting off and play...

Heaven 17 - Play to Win 12\" [B.E.F. Disco Mix]

New R4 Series of The Shuttleworths

Caught this last night (available on on iPlayer). Still very funny in that gentle way.

JS takes on eBay in pursuit of a toaster with advanced features (it has an inbuilt crum tray AND variable browning).

BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - The Shuttleworths.